Past The Screen (Discontinued)
by Starry Glasses
Summary: Apparently an eight-year old Evan likes archers and isn't strong enough to kill a ribbon pig. It's possible that I'm causing changes to the Maple Story storyline but that's exactly why I'm trying to do things to fix it. "Hey Evan don't you think dragons are really cool?"
1. It's my English teacher's fault

_Past The Screen_

Chapter One

* * *

I blame my English teacher.

Seriously, it's all her fault that I'm in Edelstein and stuck in the body of a seven-year old.

…

Okay, maybe it's not _entirely_ her fault. Seeing as how I was the one who decided to procrastinate doing the essay I can admit to taking part of the blame.

Enough of that though, I'm sure you're probably wondering what in the world I'm talking about. It's actually sort-of a long story though.

It starts off like this.

* * *

I stared at my computer screen, eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. Nothing could distract me. I was in too deep thought-

_RING_

Oh screw it.

I averted my eyes from the blank page of my Microsoft Word document and reached over to my left to grab my phone which I had earlier haphazardly thrown on to my bed. I swear my arm felt like it was going to rip out of its socket with how much I was stretching it but I managed to grab my dear phone before that happened.

Now I'm sure that most people would ask, "Why didn't you just stand up and walk to your bed and pick it up?"

The reason is because I am lazy. It's as simple as that really.

Looking at my phone I saw a text from my friend Riley.

_Hey Elissa! It's Riley, how's your essay for English going? I just finished mine._

Frick you Riley.

I threw my phone back on my bed and held my head in my hands.

Usually I was great at writing essays but this one topic absolutely stumped me.

The topic was: "Where do you see yourself in ten years?"

My answer to that? I have no idea.

You see, I don't really like to lie. I try to tell the truth as often as possible and I feel terrible on the inside when I lie. So I don't.

Now since I don't want to lie, my only option for that essay is to write that I do not know where I see myself in ten years. This however is actually not at all an option because the essay has to be at least two pages long and I do not see how I can turn 'I do not know' into a two page long essay.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and internally resolved to start on it later. I still had plenty of time after all.

Looking back at my computer I closed Word and opened up Google Chrome. Then I couldn't help but smile as my homepage loaded.

_Maple Story_

Yeah, my home page is the Maple Story website. There's nothing wrong with that. Most of the time I go on the internet is to log into my Maple Story account and start-up the game anyways so I just decided to make it my home page. Smart huh?

After logging in and doing all that stuff I waited a minute or so for it to start-up. When it finally loaded I clicked on _Bera _then channel 8 (because that's the awesome channel) and selected my battle mage character _BattleQueen_.

Okay so I know the name is kind of lame but I seriously hate coming up with character names so I just slap on some words and think to myself _okay this is decent I'll go with this_. And besides, it fits with my job. Battle Mage. Battle Queen. Yeah I'm a queen got a problem with that?

Then of course I entered my PIC and I happily watched the screen fade to black and waited for that chime-like sound effect-

Oh _there _it is.

It wouldn't be Maple Story without the awesome sound effects. No it would not.

Patiently I waited for the black to fade and show the map that I was on…

Oh shit, TELEPORT!

Ugh. Damn it Maple Story. Why do you have to let me start _right in the god damn middle _of a map where all the monsters are?

* * *

After getting to a monster-free platform I checked to see if anyone on my buddy list was on. Sadly, no one was on and I couldn't help the frown that made its way onto my face.

I wanted to do a party quest damn it. Grinding is boring and the only other way to train is by doing a party quest but I can't do a party quest without other players and oh my god it's so awkward doing a party quest with strangers. There's practically no talking at all except for an occasional command or question here and there.

_Hey did you get that thing?_

_Yeah I did, did you kill that monster?_

_Uh huh._

_Oh okay. Cool._

…

_You guys ready for the boss fight?_

_Yeah. _

_Okay. _

See? It's awkward. At least when I do party quests with my friends it's so much livelier.

_DAMN IT STOP KSING ME _

_WHAT DO YOU MEAN KSING YOU YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GET THAT THING FROM THAT OTHER MONSTER_

…

_Crap I ran out of HP pots can I have some of yours?_

_You're a freaking bishop you don't need HP pots_

_Wait shit I meant MP pots sorry lol_

There. It's not awkward and it's a lot funner. Yeah I know funner isn't a word but who cares.

Anyways, now I was in Leafre just chilling. I wonder what I should do now-

Oh look a text box thingy. What can I help you with Maple Administrator…?

"Eh?" The sound came out of my mouth before I could stop it. I frowned. The text box didn't look different. There was the Maple Administrator standing to the left which was pretty normal but it was the text on the right that caused my confusion.

_Soul Warp Starting…_

And instead of their being two buttons _Accept _and _Decline _there was only one.

_Cancel_

Wait what? Soul Warp? Is that a new game feature? Shoot maybe I should have looked to see if there were any updates made.

I briefly contemplated whether I should cancel it. The _Warp _part of it made it sound like my character was going to be teleported. On one hand I didn't really want to teleport anywhere because Leafre was my current training spot. On the other hand, I didn't want to miss out on any events because that might mean missing out on cool items.

For maybe about half a minute I debated the pros and cons of clicking cancel and not clicking cancel.

That was my big mistake.

_DING! _

The sound tore me away from my thinking. Looking back at my laptop screen I saw the text being rewritten.

_Soul Warp Activating_

_Thank you for participating _

Oh shit.

All of a sudden I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. My vision blurred and I heard something akin to a chime ring. How familiar it seemed…

* * *

Warm…

It was too damn warm.

I groaned and tried to throw the blanket off-

Wait… _blanket? _

My eyes snapped open to show a light blue ceiling.

Huh? A light blue ceiling? That didn't make any sense because my room didn't have a light blue ceiling. No other room in my house had a light blue ceiling either…

OH MY GOD WAS I KIDNAPPED?!

_Smack. _

That was me smacking myself. That was such a stupid thought that I just had to smack myself. I mean, if someone had kidnapped me then why would I be in a nice comfortable bed?

Speaking of nice and comfortable beds though…

I turned my eyes to the bed I was sitting in. I couldn't help but grimace at the color scheme.

It was all _blue. _

Sure it's not like they were all the same shade of blue but still…

The blanket was a navy blue, the bed sheet was sky blue, and my pillow cases were azure. That's way too much blue in my opinion.

I frowned again, realizing something else.

I was pale. Looking at my arms over the blanket I saw that they were a rather unhealthy looking pale.

This however made absolutely no sense because I distinctly remember going to the beach with Riley and the others just a few days ago. Now that gave me a pretty nice tan along with some not so nice tan lines. (Which I completely blame Riley for because going to the beach was her idea in the first place.)

And to add to fact that I was now pale I was also wearing a nightgown. You want to guess what color said nightgown was?

_It was freaking blue. _

Growling I stood up from the bed and started walking towards the door. I wanted answers and I swear on my name _Elissa Saris _that I was going to get them.

While making my way to the door though I wasn't really paying attention to anything else in the room and so when my head turned slightly to the left and I caught my reflection in the (damn blue) vanity mirror I just stared for a couple of seconds.

Then I _screamed. _

Because my hair was _purple_ and my eyes were _blue_ and _what the hell is going on? _

Now some of you might be wondering _how did she not notice her hair was purple? _And the answer to that people is because it's in a bun and _why the heck is my hair purple. _

The blue eyes didn't really bother me much because I figured it was just contacts but the hair…

A tug here and there revealed that _no Elissa it's not a wig_. And a couple of hand waves at the reflection revealed that _oh my god yes that's me. _

And just to top it all off, a woman and man came bursting through the bedroom door just seconds after that. And you know if I wasn't so terrified of my situation then I would have laughed because the woman was holding a frying pan and the man was holding a fire extinguisher and it looked really funny but I was in fact terrified of my situation so I did what a normal person would've done.

I screamed again.

"Eliza sweetie what's wrong? Why are you screaming?" The woman took a few steps towards me. She had long purple hair tied into a pony tail and pale skin. Her frying pan lowered but her grey eyes darted across the room looking for any signs of danger.

The man frowned and lowered his fire extinguisher. (dude what were you planning on doing with that thing anyway?) He had short black hair (thank you for being normal) that curled slightly at the ends along with tan skin and blue eyes. "You shouldn't even be out of bed young lady. You have a high fever and you need your rest."

I was already confused and now feeling tired so I just said what was on my mind at that time which was, "Who the hell are you people?"

I probably shouldn't have swore but eh, it was a slip of tongue really.

This however made both adults freeze and the woman actually dropped her frying pan and brought her hands up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened. The man on the other hand unfroze after a second or two and left the room cursing under his breath.

This left me with the woman who was staring at me in shock.

Awkward…

Eventually though she regained her composure but seemed kind of sad. Hesitantly she took a step forward to which I responded to with a step back.

"Do you really not know who I am Eliza?" She asked sadly.

I was half tempted to tell her _hey you're saying my name wrong, it's Elissa not Eliza _but she looked genuinely upset and I didn't want to upset her even more.

After a couple of seconds I internally shrugged and did what I did best, telling the truth.

"Uhm, yeah. I don't know who you are, or that man who just left earlier." I said lamely. I mean, what else was I supposed to say? "Sorry." I added as an after thought, looking down at my feet. Crap, that didn't even sound sorry to _me._

I heard her sigh quietly and looked back up at her. She looked unsure and kept fidgeting. I frowned. If she had something to say then she should just say it instead of-

"Eliza sweetie, I'm your mother." She said, smiling a bit at the end.

Now _I_ was the one that froze.

Wait… _what?_

* * *

**Hi. **

**I guess thank you for reading this…?**

**The idea for this just appeared in my head a couple of days ago and so I decided to write it out. **

**I plan for this story to be pretty long and my goal for this is to make Maple Story seem like an actual real world. Or as real as possible I guess. **

**I'll have Elissa/Eliza here meet a bunch of characters from the game of course. After all, to make Maple Story seem like a real world the people living in it need to be real too. **

**I appreciate feedback on my writing since this is pretty much my first time writing a fanfiction. (There was this one other time but that was a couple of years ago so I don't count it.)**

**Next time on Past The Screen: Oh hi Claudine you're a lot younger than I thought you'd be.**

**-Starry Glasses**


	2. We're named after monsters

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Two

* * *

Okay… I think I just misheard what she just said because I could have sworn I heard her say that she was my mother.

I blinked once, twice. Nope, she still had purple hair and grey eyes. There was no way she could be my mom. My mom had dark brown hair and brown eyes.

"Are you sure about that? Being my mom and all…" I trailed off, not really sure where I was going with that.

She walked over towards me and I eyed her warily. Imagine my surprise when she passed by me and took a seat on the bed. Smiling, she patted the space next to her and I cautiously moved to sit by her. Of course I left space between us though. She was still a stranger but she at least seemed nice.

"What do you remember?" She asked, causing me to grimace. Something was off, I could tell. It wasn't my hair and eyes or my 'mom.' It was something else...

I was forgetting something, something important...

However my thoughts were interrupted when I heard a distinctively male voice coming from behind the door.

"I believe she has amnesia, she doesn't seem to remember me or Leila."

As the doorknob turned I belatedly realized that it was the voice of the man who had been holding the fire hydrant earlier.

Huh, if the woman was apparently my mom then does that make him my dad? He seems too old to be a brother…

The door opened and yup, that was him. 'Dad' walked in and motioned for someone else to do so too. The woman who entered the room however caused me to gawk in absolute surprise.

What the… Is that who I think it is? She looks kind of like...

"Dr. Claudine once again I just want to apologize for calling you over so late at night." He said as he closed the door behind the young woman._  
_

Dr. Claudine apparently didn't seem bothered in the least and offered him a polite smile. "There is no need to apologize Mr. Hertsh. In fact, I'm glad you called me. I was getting quite worried about Eliza's fever. It's good to see her up and moving about." She walked towards me and 'mom' and placed her hand on my forehead then proceeded to take my temperature.

"Her fever has gone down drastically. She should be fine with a bit more rest along with plenty of liquids." Dr. Claudine noted. Mom and dad nodded, dad leaving the room presumably to get me some water. (Oh how nice of him)

Claudine's eyes however took on a more serious glint. Oh wow she's kind of intimidating.

"I'm particularly concerned about your supposed amnesia, Eliza." While saying this she walked over to the side of the room and brought over a chair so she could sit in front of me.

My thoughts raced, oh shoot what was I supposed to say? I didn't actually have amnesia. I just seemed to be in another person's body-

_Wait. _

Another person's body…?

Yeah… it was as if my soul had been switched… or rather, it had been _warped_ into another person's-

"Tell me Eliza, what do you know about Edelstein?"

My train of thought abruptly crashed. Drat, why'd you have to interrupt me Dr. Claudine?

Shaking my head I contemplated my answer to her question. Well…

"Edelstein is a place isn't it?" I answered her question with a question. Ugh, my voice sounds so high. Just how old is this body anyway? Six years old?

Dr. Claudine smiled at me. If that was meant to reassure me it didn't because now I'm even more scared. She's supposed to be the leader of the Resistance isn't she? Oh god…

"Yes it's a place. In fact, you are currently in Edelstein and are also a certified citizen of Edelstein." She explained.

…

I am _where _and I am a _what? _

Wait a second... if I'm in Edelstein then that can only mean one thing.

I'm in Maple Story.

…

"Ouch!" I rubbed my arm, trying to relieve myself of the pain. Pinching my own arm probably wasn't my smartest idea.

Claudine (adding the _doctor _part of it sounds too long) watched me with slight amusement while my mom frowned.

"You know about Edelstein but you don't know that it's where you live?" Mom questioned. Oh yeah, that seemed kind of fishy.

I smiled sheepishly. "I can only remember some things…"

That seemed like a good answer. It wasn't entirely a lie, but my stomach still churned at telling the half-truth, half-lie. Isn't there such a thing as partial amnesia anyways? It seemed probable.

Claudine looked thoughtful. Now that I'm actually focusing on her I noticed she seemed younger than she did in the game. To me, in the game she seemed to be in her late twenties to early thirties but now… She looked maybe twenty four or twenty seven at most.

"Aren't you kind of young to be a doctor?"

Wait… that high voice that just spoke was _me. _

Crap, I didn't mean to say that out loud…

Thankfully, Claudine didn't seem offended but my mom on the other hand seemed like she wanted to reprimand me.

I inched away from her a bit. I didn't like being scolded.

"Don't worry Mrs. Hertsh. I don't take offense to that. It's a normal question that I've been asked before." Dr. Claudine reassured. "I'm still in training right now so technically I'm not a fully fledged doctor yet. However I'm expected to complete my training soon and since I handle some appointments originally for my mother many of the citizens here in Edelstein have already labeled me as 'Doctor' Claudine."

That caused my eyes to widen. Did she just say _mother? _

"Your mother is a doctor?" I questioned. The game never mentioned that Claudine had a mother…

Wait. Of course she had a mother, how else would she have been born?

"Yes Eliza, my mother is a doctor. She is in fact head doctor of Edelstein Hospital. I hope to be as good a doctor as her." Claudine said, sounding just a bit proud of her mother and determined to reach her goal.

I hummed to myself. So Claudine's mom was a doctor huh? That's cool…

Yawning, I rubbed my eyes. Wow, I just got up and I'm tired already?

Claudine took this as her cue and stood up from her chair. "Well since you seem to be quite okay I'll take my leave. Mrs. Hertsh I don't recommend her going to school tomorrow, also don't forget what I said earlier." She picked up the chair and placed it where it originally was.

Mom stood up from her spot on the bed and said her thanks to Claudine to which the doctor replied with, "You're welcome Mrs. Hertsh, have a good evening."

At this point I was already lying on the bed, not even having enough energy to insult the color scheme. (I was _really_ tired.)

Mom laughed a bit at seeing me before fixing the bed so that I was lying underneath the blankets and properly resting my head on the pillow. It was at this time that dad came into the room holding a cup of water.

Kind of late don't you think dad?

He seemed a bit put out that I was ready to go back to sleep and when asked by mom why he took so long he said, "The twins wanted to leave their room to see their sis. I had to convince them to go back to sleep since there's still school tomorrow, or actually today, seeing as how it's past midnight already."

Wow it was past midnight and Claudine still came over to check up on me? That's some dedication… Now I feel kind of bad.

Dad noticed this and smile reassuringly. "Don't worry Eliza, Dr. Claudine told me she was already awake when I called so you didn't disturb her sleep."

That caused me to smile a bit before I yawned again. My eyelids felt heavy and I could feel my mind drifting.

"Good night Eliza." Was the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Should…wake…"

"She…amnesia…don't you remember…"

Ugh, go away. I'm trying to sleep here.

"Do you think…us?"

I frowned. Who was talking? It sounded like some kids…

"She moved! She's awake!" A high pitched voice squealed. Okay, that's a girl's voice for sure.

"She's frowning Alishar, we woke her up more like it." A slightly lower voice stated. Huh, this voice was still a bit high but sounded more like a little boy's voice.

Cautiously I opened my eyes to see a little boy and girl. They were probably about five years old.

The boy had curly purple hair and grey eyes. The girl on the other hand had straight black hair and clear blue eyes. Both however had pale skin.

Wait a second… Were they the twin's dad was talking about last night?

The girl after noticing I actually was awake beamed brightly at me, blue eyes practically sparkling. "Hi Eliza, if you don't remember who I am I'm Alishar your little sister!" She pointed to herself while saying this before pointing to the boy next to her and continuing, "That's Zeno and he's your little brother. We're twins."

My eyes widened, Alishar and Zeno? Weren't those two bosses in Maple Story?

Wait a second…

Wasn't Eliza a boss in Maple Story too?

…

Its official, my parents are weird. I mean, who names their children after monsters?

That sounded kind of wrong…

"Are you okay sis?" The boy, Zeno asked me. He looked particularly concerned and so did his twin, Alishar.

Smiling, I reassured them that I was alright. Alishar seemed to believe me but Zeno still seemed a bit skeptic.

Rolling my eyes I gestured towards the clock on the side of the room. I didn't realize it was there last night but I noticed it when I woke up. The clock read 7:30am and didn't dad say last night that there was school today?

"Shouldn't you two be heading to school?" I asked them. They both looked at the clock and their eyes widened. Ironically, it was also at that time that we all heard dad yelling from behind the door.

"Ali! Zeno! Where are you? We need to go or else you're going to be late."

Both of them then ran towards the door shouting their goodbyes and Alishar even threw in a "You don't remember but you owe me five hundred mesos!"

"Sure I do." I called after them, dragging out the sure. They both laughed at that and I couldn't help but giggle a bit.

However my smile faded and my posture drooped as I actually thought about my situation.

…_I was still here._

_I was in Edelstein._

_I was in Maple Story. _

_This wasn't a dream. _

_And I really am…_

…_Far away from my home. _

I brought my knees up and buried my face in my arms.

I wasn't going to cry.

Sure, I'm in a different world and in a different body but…

It could be worse.

So I need to be strong and smile because this isn't just any world, this is _Maple Story. _

It's a world full of magic and things that don't exist in my world.

And maybe… maybe there's a type of magic that can send me back.

So I need to make the best of my situation and be productive because I _will _find a way to get back to my world.

Grinning, I got out of my bed and walked to the window on the side of my room. Pushing back the curtains I saw many people walking on the sidewalk and cars driving through the street.

This will be interesting.

* * *

**I wanted to keep writing but this seemed like a good place to stop. **

**And yeah, Claudine's mom is a doctor. Or at least she is in this story.**

**I'm pretty sure that the game doesn't talk about her mom so this could entirely be possible. Maple Story doesn't exactly go into detail about things like this for any of the characters. **

**Does Eliza seem like a Mary sue? I don't think she does but I'd like input on that.**

**Oh and the way I'm doing mesos is that 1USD = 100 mesos.**

**So that would mean that Eliza apparently owes Alishar 5 dollars huh. **

**Next time on Past the Screen: Library trip to get to know more about this world. **


	3. The Black Wings are scary

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Three

* * *

_Lupins are not an aggressive type of monster. They happen to love bananas and are never found without one. It is because of this fact that many find it confusing about why the Lupins main style of attacking is throwing bananas. _

_Lupins are rather docile creatures and will not attack unless provoked. Seeing as how they do not have the proper build to endure attacks they prefer long-range fights where they can throw whatever is within reach which is almost always bananas. Another thing to keep in mind about Lupins is that they will retreat when left with few bananas. This retreat is usually only temporary since they are often able to get more bananas from the trees that they live in._

_This particular type of monster is found in Ellinia, specifically where banana trees grow. It is highly unlikely to find Lupins anywhere else excluding the many Monster Zoos throughout the Maple World and-_

"Mom, dad we're home!"

My reading was sadly interrupted by the twins' return from school. Sighing, I closed _A Monster Encyclopedia by Soria Resaly _after bookmarking my page and stood up from the couch.

Not a second later both Alishar and Zeno ran into the living room grinning. They each were holding a white box with their names written on it.

"Look Eli! I made you cookies at school!" Alishar beamed, shoving her box into my face.

Zeno didn't miss a beat. "I made you brownies Eli! I know you love brownies!"

"Aw, thanks you two." I said while taking both boxes. They both were so sweet, and _so _cute. I didn't understand how people could say that they hated their siblings.

"Hey you don't have to take Zeno's box Eli. Mines are so much better." Uh oh.

"Not even! Ms. Summer said mine was exce- exceptional." I noticed Zeno's ears turn red as he fumbled over the word.

Ugh, I take that back. I guess I _kind of_ understand why people would say that.

It was at that moment that mom chose to walk in. "Are you two fighting again? How many times do I have to scold you two before you finally get along?" She reprimanded before turning to me looking apologetic. "I'm sorry. Did they ruin your rest Eliza?"

My eyes widened and I smiled slightly. "Don't worry they didn't ruin my rest. I wasn't sleeping anyways, just reading."

That caused mom to frown, and she noticed the rather large book I had placed on the coffee table. She shooed the twins out before demanding I get some sleep instead of reading.

"I swear, even without your memories you're still a bookworm. If you keep this up you'll end up needing glasses."

My only response to that was a sheepish smile before lying back down on the couch. What she said was probably true. As Elissa I had really thick glasses because my eyesight was absolutely horrible.

I hummed to myself. Glasses weren't so bad, contacts on the other hand… I shivered at the thought. I didn't have anything against people who wore contacts but the idea of sticking something in my eye even if it was to improve my vision would never sit well with me.

With that thought, I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to claim me.

* * *

In my dream I was running. I was in a long corridor that seemed almost never-ending if not for the faint light I saw ahead of me.

My breathing was hard and heavy and my chest hurt from exhaustion but I didn't stop. I didn't know why but I _had _to keep running.

There was something… something I needed to do.

All of a sudden I was there at the end of the corridor. The light was starting to fade and I could see-

"Hey look, she's not wearing blue. It's a miracle Macey."

"Shh! You're going to wake her up Luke!"

The voices interrupted my dream and I could feel myself already forgetting what I had just dreamed about. I think there was a light? Or maybe not? Ugh, why did I have to forget dreams so quickly!

I opened my eyes to see two people, a boy and a girl. The boy had short black hair and green eyes while the girl had long blonde hair tied into a ponytail and brown eyes.

I frowned. They both looked around my age. Were they Eliza's friends? Tossing my thoughts about my dream aside I paid attention to them instead.

The boy, Luke I guessed, grinned at me. "Hey Eli, do you remember me? My name's Luke" Yup, I was right.

Shaking my head I sat up and yawned. Then I turned my head to the blonde.

"Sorry but I don't remember who you are either, but from what I heard earlier I'm guessing you're Macey…?"

The girl nodded and smiled before looking a bit guilty. "I'm so sorry we woke you up, your mom said you needed lots of rest."

I rolled my eyes. Really, I was just fine. Looking at the clock I saw that I slept for about an hour. Good enough.

Both Luke and Macey stepped back as I stood up from the couch and stretched. I looked at the two of them and smiled.

"So who wants to come with me to explore Edelstein?"

* * *

I would just like to say that being stuck at home is _boring. _Seriously, I just wanted to get out of this house and get some nice fresh air. I don't see what the big deal is about three seven-year-olds walking around alone in a city.

I highly doubt there's much crime here compared to Earth seeing as how there's awesome police officers such as Belle (who I have not met yet but _really _want to) and already scary people like the Black Wings (the ones that I do not want to meet at all.)

Besides, Alishar and Zeno walk to and from school by themselves and they're perfectly fine. (And then Luke pointed out that the school is basically down the street from our house but still.)

Eventually I was able to convince mom to let us walk around the city after Luke mentioned that his older brother could keep an eye on us.

Apparently Luke's brother, Owen was fourteen and looked pretty much like an older version of Luke except that his hair was a bit more spiky. He was also kind of cute but seeing as how I was (physically) seven and him being fourteen I figured it probably wouldn't work out well.

At first he didn't want to do it but I had Luke and Macey help me guilt him into it. It's been so long since I've been able to use 'puppy dog eyes' and I'm definitely going to make the most of it while I can.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the trip but I can say that overall it was pretty fun.

At first we went to the library (at my request) and I got the pleasure of seeing that it was _huge_ and absolutely full of books, books, and more books. (If you couldn't tell by now I happen to really love reading.) However the temptation to go borrow maybe a dozen or so of them was thoroughly squashed after I realized that it would look a _little _weird for a seven-year old girl to borrow a bunch of thick books containing no pictures. And I probably wouldn't have been able to carry them all anyways.

After my tearful goodbye to the library Owen took the three of us sightseeing around Edelstein. Apparently there was even a museum full of pretty rocks from the Verne Mines along with a bit of the town's history. Our ancestors built this city a long, long time ago after a disease killed off many people from the different villages that had originally existed. In order to survive all the villages united and created the town known today as Edelstein. There was some other information the museum tour guide said but I was seven and had a short attention span. Do the math.

We also went to the arcade where I found out a bunch of things about me and my friends.

Apparently I suck at shooting games no matter whose body I'm in but I'm still boss at dancing games.

"_This is level one Eli, come on I don't think it's possible for you to suck this much."_

"_Oh be quiet Luke." _

Luke is the _king _of claw machines (I had him win Macey and I stuffed ribbon pigs) but can't drive a car to save his life.

"_Come on Luke, I don't think it's possible for you to suck this much."_

"_Shut it."_

"_Really guys, no fighting we're supposed to be having fun!"_

"_While using _my _money."_

On the other hand, Macey has apparently been graced by lady luck herself because she wins dozens of tickets at those luck-based games but is pretty much only average at everything else.

"_How much of your tokens have you used at that game Macey? You've stood there for like five minutes already."_

"_Oh I played it only once so four."_

"…_Then why are tickets still coming out." _

"_I hit the jackpot."_

There were other places that would probably be worth mentioning but the most important part of the trip would have to have been when we stumbled across Bavan.

Okay maybe it wasn't exactly _we _and more like _I _stumbled across Bavan. Like, literally I stumbled right into him when we were making a turn to head into the park.

I was leading the group towards the park and was making the turn past this building just like Owen said I had to when all of a sudden I bumped into someone and fell right on my butt.

"Ow!"

"Hey watch where you're going you brat!"

I looked up and saw an orange haired man wearing a black suit of sorts with gold linings and buttons. At first I was going to tell him off because I was definitely _not _a brat but that was when I noticed that the people walking by had stopped and were looking at me with wide eyes with a bit of fear in them.

That was when I noticed his hat which had this purple gem in the shape of a circle and what seemed looked like wings coming out from both sides of it and didn't that look like…

The symbol of the one group I did not want to meet at all, the Black Wings.

Oh shit.

The Black Wings guy was glaring at me and after a moment it looks like he was going to say something but was then interrupted by his phone ringing. He looked at it with clear distaste before glancing at me and sneering.

"You got lucky this time kid, next time I won't be so nice and let you off for something like that."

After saying that he walked away and I watched as the crowd made way for him. Owen quickly picked me up from the ground and practically carried me back to my house with Luke and Macey at his heels.

While Owen carried me I couldn't help but frown because I didn't think that Bavan (Claudine looked younger so that was probably a younger version of Bavan) was all that bad in the game. I remembered that he ate a lot and didn't really care about anything. I did some quests for him on my battle mage character and he didn't seem too bad besides the fact that he was a part of an evil organization.

This was an interesting development. I guess this world isn't completely the same as the Maple World from the game. But I suppose that's only natural anyways.

When we got home Owen didn't really mention anything about the incident and just said that he was feeling tired and didn't feel like watching over us anymore. He dragged both Luke and Macey with him while leaving saying he that was going to drop off Macey and then head back to his and Luke's house when he finished.

Mom and dad sensed that I was a bit down and had asked me about it but I waved them off saying I was fine. Eventually I got over it though and spent my weekend lazing around the house reading _A_ _Monster Encyclopedia_.

Or at least, that's what I did up until Sunday night.

"Hey Eliza are you all packed up for your trip tomorrow?"

"What are you talking about mom? What trip?"

"Oh dear…"

And that's how I found out that my class had a week long trip going around Victoria Island starting on Monday which was tomorrow and that I had absolutely nothing packed.

Suffice to say I didn't get very much sleep that night.

* * *

**Wow, I've been waiting to get to this part.**

**This _technically _doesn't match up with my 'Next Time on PTS' but I decided to change how this chapter would go because it just wasn't working for me. **

**Sorry it took so long. I'll update weekly from now on, most likely on Wednesdays. **

**And if you were wondering yes, this story does have a plot. That plot will **_**finally **_**start in the next chapter. These three chapters were just to get Eliza a bit comfortable with her new body and the Maple World.**

**I'm so excited to write the new chapter you might not even have to wait a week for it.**

**Woot. **

**Oh and if I didn't mention it in this chapter or the earlier chapters, Eliza woke up on a Thursday. This chapter took place when she woke up the next day meaning Friday. **

**This chapter was kind of rushed though so I'm really sorry for that. Also, everything about like Lupins and the Edelstein history was pretty much just made up by me. Stuff like this is going to happen **_**a lot **_**in the story because Maple Story doesn't really give much detail about anything.**

**Anyways, if you're reading this I just want to say thank you! I really appreciate you reading over my work. :) **

**I finished this chapter while listening to the KHR Openings. If you didn't know, KHR stands for Katekyo Hitman Reborn. It's my absolute favorite anime and I definitely recommend that you watch it!**

**Oh! And if you want to check on my chapter progress then look on my profile. I'll try to keep it updated as much as possible.**

**Next on Past The Screen: To Hennesys we shall go. **


	4. Meeting farm boys in potion shops

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Four

* * *

"We will be landing soon so make sure you have your seatbelts on everyone!" I heard Ms. Illia (who was my teacher) say from the front of the plane and yes, you heard right. I said _plane _as in an _airplane. _

Apparently there was an airport in Edelstein which actually made kind of sense. It wasn't exactly reasonable to only have that one guy flying his balloon from Edelstein to Victoria Island. Not to mention that balloon wasn't particularly big either.

I let out a huge yawn and stretched in my seat, causing my seatmate who luckily was Macey to look at me worriedly. A quick glance behind her showed that she was still playing _Go Fish _with some of the other girls from our class.

"You okay Eli?" She asked. The others she was playing with expressed similar concerns to me but I just smiled and waved them off.

"I'm fine Mace." I used the nickname I overheard from our classmates. "I didn't get much sleep last night remember?" Now that caused a couple of giggles and chuckles from the group.

"Still Eli, I can't believe you completely forgot about the trip. You've been looking forward to it this entire month!" A boy exclaimed from behind me.

Rolling my eyes I unbuckled my seat belt and turned around to face the boy. If my memory served correctly his name was Mitchell but almost everyone called him Mitch. I thought that he was kind of funny but I guess it turns out that he's forgetful too.

"Well I have an excuse Mitch, I lost my memory remember?" I frowned, then inwardly grimaced as I saw Mitch's grin instantly vanish.

Ah, that might not have been the smartest thing to say.

Quickly I smiled and tried to tell him that I wasn't upset or anything like that but I Ms. Illia interrupted me. She reprimanded me and told me to hurry up and put my seat belt on.

After she left I couldn't help but stick my tongue out at her causing a few giggles to erupt from around me. In fact, to my delight I saw that Mitch was snickering at me and I stuck my tongue out at him before plopping back down into my seat and putting my seat belt on.

Closing my eyes I tried to get a few minutes of rest before the plane landed. My plans however got ruined when Mitch decided that everyone should sing the Christmas carols we had all apparently sung at the Winter Talent Show the school held a few months ago. To make things worse none of the other passengers seemed against the idea and actually _encouraged _them to sing.

Even now, a couple of hours later the song _Rudolph the Red Nosed Monster_ is still stuck in my head.

* * *

After the plane landed in the Victoria Central Airport and everyone in our class along with the chaperones and Ms. Illia got their luggage we headed outside to where a bus was waiting for us.

It was like your any old school bus with the bright yellow paint and seats-with-no-seat belts. The only thing different was the… _archer girl _that was sitting at the front of the bus.

I say _archer girl _because she had on hunting clothes and had a bow slung over her shoulder along with a quiver full of arrows. She had dark green hair that barely touched her shoulder and piercing silver eyes.

From my seat towards the middle of the bus I listened as Ms. Illia explained to us why the archer girl (who absolutely _couldn't _be older than thirteen) was traveling with our group of elementary school students.

"Although monsters usually do stay away from the roads there have recently been some cases where they've attacked cars and people next to said roads. For our protection we have Miss. Amie here to escort us to Henesys and we're very thankful that she's doing this for us."

There was a chorus of _oohs _and _ahhs _from my classmates but Amie just looked over to Ms. Illia stoically. "I'm only here because I have something in Henesys that I need to get done. _Escorting _you people means that I don't have to pay for a taxi or walk there so you don't need to thank me."

My sort of half-smile turned into a scowl. That's such a bad attitude but unfortunately for me, that statement just upped Amie's '_cool_' factor according to my classmates.

"_Wow I can't believe she said that to Ms. Illia!" _

"_She's so calm! I bet nothing ever scares her!"_

"_I bet she's fought a ton of monsters! She's probably so strong!" _

Quickly Ms. Illia set about to quieting the students, acting as if Amie's comment didn't bother her but I could see her displeasure towards the said archer. Fortunately the bus ride wasn't too long (and not at all eventful either) and soon enough Ms. Illia told us the rooms at the Inn we were staying at.

Not including Ms. Illia there were three other chaperones along with 16 students. There were three rooms which included the boy's room, girl's room, and the chaperones room. In order to save money, everyone bought sleeping bags and we drew lots for who were going to sleep on the beds.

Since the rooms had double beds it was two to a bed for the students and one to a bed for the chaperones (because they're adults and like their personal space.)

Sadly, I didn't win and so I had to set up my sleeping bag on the floor. Luckily, Macey didn't win either (I feel kind of bad for thinking that) and set up her sleeping bag next to mine.

Including me there was nine girls and seven boys in our class so subtracting the four that were sleeping on the beds. I was sharing the lovely floor with three strangers. Well, I guess not technically strangers because I remember that they were playing Go Fish with Macey earlier but still.

Seeing as how it was only about two o'clock in the afternoon Ms. Illia told us all to form four groups of four and pick a chaperone to lead us around Henesys. Macey dragged me over to where Luke and his friend were and the four of us practically jumped Mr. Riole who was the most lax chaperone and the father of Luke's friend Josh. (I didn't see the point of jumping Josh's dad since it was obvious he'd go with whatever group his son was in but Luke just messed up my hair and told me to stop being a party pooper.)

Soon enough Mr. Riole was leading us throughout the streets of Henesys and all I could do was look around in awe.

Or at least, that's all I thought I could do.

* * *

"Hey, Mr. Riole can I go into that store?" I asked said person while pointing to the potion shop. Currently we were in the market and we had all made a chain linking hands going from Mr. Riole to his son then Luke, Macey, and finally me.

So far we've only been doing window shopping because although we all had some money with us to buy souvenirs and such, we didn't want to buy something we only marginally liked now and not have enough money to get something we _really _wanted later. However, I was insanely curious about how potions worked in this world and since I hadn't been able to find that merchant guy who sells potions in Edelstein I figured I'd just buy one from here.

Mr. Riole looked over to me and then to where I had pointed. The potion shop wasn't too far from where the others were looking (_gawking_) at an electronic dog that was jumping through hoops from behind the store window so I was pretty sure he'd let me go.

"Okay, we'll all head there now." He announced to the group with a smile. However, instantly I could hear a _"What?!" _and a "_But we're not done yet!" _

He looked over to me apologetically. "Sorry Eliza but they want to stay here and uh, watch the dog a little longer. We can go there later."

I frowned and tilted my head to the side. "Can't I go by myself?"

Mr. Riole's eyes widened and I could tell that he was a bit surprised that I was willing to go to the shop alone without anyone with me. At first I was a little confused because, _hey dude I'm fourteen I don't need someone to hold my hand while I walk to a store that's like ten feet away _and then I realized _oh wait I'm in a seven-year old body… _

I face-palmed internally at my slip-up but kept my face neutral. I didn't want to look any more out of ordinary than I already was.

However to my surprise Mr. Riole simply smiled and gave me basic rules like _don't talk to strangers _and _pay attention to your surroundings _before sending me towards the potion shop.

I expertly maneuvered my way through the crowd of people and peeked in the door of the shop and I couldn't help but gap at what I saw. There were maybe only half a dozen people in the medium-sized shop but they were all wearing armor and carrying their weapons with them and… _Wow_ that pole arm looks really heavy just how strong is that dude?

I was perfectly content to just stand by the door and watch them all but the shop manager spotted me and beckoned me into the store with a '_Come on in, don't be scared!'_ causing all the shoppers to glance towards me and wait for me to actually come into the store before resuming their browsing. Some of them even offered a smile and a wave, probably trying to reassure me that they meant no harm and etc. Although some were more effective than others (the pretty girl with a staff standing next to the cashier counter) while some didn't reassure me in the least bit (the guy with the pole arm looked kind of scary when he smiled.)

Looking through the shelves I found both potions that I recognized and potions that weren't familiar to me at all. Also, I saw that they were available in many different sizes.

Using my mini-notebook and pencil that I had kept in my pocket I listed the names of some of the potions I saw along with their prices, sizes, and a small description.

_Red potion: Mini -100 mesos, Small -200 mesos. Heals small cuts and relieves small amounts of physical exhaustion._

_Orange potion: Small -250 mesos, Medium -300 mesos. It's slightly better than red potion._

_White potion: Small -400 mesos, Medium -500 mesos, Large -600 mesos. Better than the orange potion, also helps to heal muscle sprains and broken bones two times faster. _

_Blue potion: Small -200 mesos, Medium -300 mesos. It relieves a small amount of mental exhaustion._

_Mana elixir: Medium -400 mesos, Large -500 mesos. Better than blue potion and increases concentration. _

_Numbing potion: Small -400 mesos. It numbs most, if not all the pain. Works for small to medium-sized wounds and not too severe broken bones and sprains. _

_Blood stop potion: Small -500 mesos. It stops most, if not all the blood coming from wounds. Works for small to medium-sized wounds and less effective for internal bleeding._

The mini-sized potions were only about as big as a pill bottle. Small-sized potions on the other hand were slightly bigger than that and so on for the other sizes.

After asking the shop manager about the potions I also found out that when drinking the potions you were naturally able to tell when you need to stop drinking it and didn't have to drink the entire bottle in one go.

While looking back at my notes I couldn't help but frown. Potions were kind of expensive and I only had three thousand mesos with me which equaled to about thirty dollars back at Earth. I debated whether I should buy any but my thoughts got interrupted by a slightly high-pitched voice coming from the front of the store.

"Ms. Fally I'm here to pick up my brother's order!"

I turned around to see a boy maybe only a year or so older than me enter the store and head towards the shop manager I had talked to earlier. He had slightly messy brown hair and light blue eyes and was wearing a plain brown shirt, jeans, and plain brown sandals. Also, he looked kind of familiar…

"Ah, so your brother sent you to pick up the red potions then huh?" Ms. Fally says while heading towards the storage room in the back of the store.

The boy follows after her but waits at the sales counter and waves at the cashier girl in greeting. "So how's business been Ms. Revi?"

The cashier girl chuckles a bit. "It's been fine Evan. In fact, a few days ago…."

At that point I just blanked out, not comprehending anything because my mind had focused on the boy just a few feet away from me who was all smiles and looked like he didn't have any worries at all.

That was Freud's successor who would form a spirit pact with an Onyx Dragon named Mir. Who would become one of the five heroes (six if you included EunWol but I didn't know much about him since he never came out yet.) He would become an amazing and powerful dragon master who would one day fight against the Black Mage along with the other heroes.

I tilted my head to the side and frowned as I observed him. He didn't even look strong enough to fight a ribbon pig.

"Is it just you Evan? Your brother ordered a lot."

I was brought back to reality by the voice of the shopkeeper as she walked out of the storage room carrying two wooden crates and by the looks of it, they were _heavy _wooden crates. She set them up on the counter and repeated the purchase to Evan to be sure that she got it right.

"It was a dozen small red potions and two dozen mini-red potions right?"

Evan nodded and took out the pay before lifting up one of the crates. "Wow, this is kind of heavy."

Both Ms. Fally and Ms. Revi looked a bit worried at that and I couldn't help but worry too. Wasn't Evan's home around the outskirts of Henesys? How was he going to get both crates home if he could barely carry one of them?

Both the shop manager and the cashier exchanged a look before Ms. Revi offered to carry one of the crates to Evan's house claiming that Ms. Fally would be able to handle the shop herself for a bit. However that caused Evan to frown and shake his head repeatedly.

"I can't ask you to do that. The shop looks pretty busy anyways so you both need to stay here to keep it under control." He said while trying to adjust the grip he had on the crate. "I'll just make two trips. I don't mind."

"But…" Ms. Revi trailed off, thinking about what Evan had just said. After looking around I noticed that the shop did seem a bit more crowded than when I first walked in.

Sighing, I approached the three of them with a small smile.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear that you seemed to have a problem…?" I trailed off at the end because _wait a second that doesn't sound like something a seven-year old would say! _

They all looked at me with slight confusion before Ms. Fally blinked in what seemed recognition.

"Ah, I remember helping you out earlier Miss…?"

Beaming at her I gave her and the rest of them my name. "I'm Eliza Hertsh."

Ms. Fally and Ms. Revi both nodded and smiled before giving their names too. Evan however wouldn't meet my eyes and kept fidgeting.

I frowned. Did I look weird or something? I checked my attire which consisted of a green t-shirt (I had managed to convince mom to take me shopping over the weekend) along with a black jacket, jeans, and black shoes. I couldn't find any stains or holes in anything and my clothes seemed perfectly reasonable. I had brushed my hair before leaving the Inn and I even put it in a pony tail too. What was up with him?

Looking at Ms. Fally I saw her give a knowing smile to Ms. Revi before introducing Evan to me.

"That's Evan, don't mind him too much. He's just a bit shy." She said while messing up his hair a bit.

Evan groaned and I could see him flush a bit. Aw, he was so cute.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. First things first Eli, gotta help Evan because after all rule #1 when wanting to be a good person: Help others when they're in need of help.

"We'll it's nice to meet you all but I was wondering if maybe I could help with your problem." I smiled and without receiving an answer I lifted up the other crate that was sitting on the counter. I grunted a bit at the weight but I found that I could carry it around just fine.

Evan turned his attention to me and I could tell that he confused. "You wanna help me carry the potions home?"

"Yeah, it all works out this way right?" I said in reply to his question, already heading to the door before turning around sheepishly. "Uhm, where exactly is your house anyways?"

He blinked a few times before realization hit and he hurried to catch up to me after yelling goodbyes to Ms. Fally and Ms. Revi.

"Thanks for the help and don't worry it's not too far from here uh, Eliza." He said as he led me through the crowds of the market.

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me since he was in front of me. "Just call me Eli and I'll just call you Evan since I can't find a way to shorten your name."

"Ah, okay Eli. But I think you can shorten my name a bit more. My brother sometimes calls me _Eva _when he makes fun of me." At this point we were around the edge of the town nearing the gates.

I hummed a bit before letting out a small giggle. "You want me to call you Eva then?"

He slowed his stride and then turned his head to face me with a frown on his face. "No, of course not, I was just saying you know…"

Quickly I caught up to him so that we were side by side.

"Yeah I know, but Eva's a nice name."

"You know you don't really act your age."

"Hmph, you don't even know my age."

"Well I'm eight and I'm assuming that you're seven right?"

"Maybe…"

"...This is going to be a long walk."

* * *

**And the budding friendship between Eli and Evan begins! **

**Yeah, this chapter is kind of late but it's long (compared to my other chapters) so I hope that will make up for it.**

**I think I'll just stop promising to have a chapter up on or by a certain day. Let's just say that I'll update sometime in the next week. Don't know exactly when but it'll be around there.**

**I swear I don't even know how it got this long. Technically some other stuff was supposed to happen in this chapter but I decided to save that for the next chapter.**

**Next time on Past The Screen: To the pig farm.**


	5. Archer worship

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Five

* * *

One minute we were just walking through the grass with Evan leading the way to his house, the next we were crouched behind some bushes with both our breathing being heavy and eyes wide with slight panic.

Just awhile ago for reasons I do not know, a herd of untamed ribbon pigs had charged towards me and Evan while we were just walking and minding our own business. As soon as Evan had noticed them charging at us he quickly dragged me off the pathway and into a nearby group of bushes while saying that it'd be best if we just wait for them to pass. Unfortunately, it seemed like the pigs decided to make a pit stop right in the middle of the pathway basically blocking entry for Evan and I.

I turned to look at Evan suspiciously. "Didn't you say earlier that you live on a pig farm?" I received a nod in response to that and sighed feeling slightly exasperated. "If you're from a pig farm then shouldn't you know how to handle pigs?"

He flushed a bit at that before weakly defending himself. "I know how to handle the pigs we have on the farm. These are different. Dangerous." The last part was added as an afterthought after he did a quick peek over the bushes to see if the pigs had gone away. From his put-down expression I'll just assume that they haven't left yet.

"Well we can't stay here forever, it's going to get dark soon and I still need to make it back after I help you deliver these." I lightly patted the box that was resting on my lap, making sure not to make too much noise to alert the pigs of our presence.

Really, I can't believe I'm scared of ribbon pigs. At first I tried to justify my actions by thinking that _oh they're in a large group so it's only natural that I'm a bit scared. _But then I had tried to peek over the bush myself and almost screamed when I saw how close one of them were.

They were _so _not cute. The stuffed ribbon pigs that Luke got Macey and I from that arcade were extremely misleading when comparing it to how ribbon pigs actually looked.

Thinking back on it I think that I actually jinxed myself by saying that Evan didn't look strong enough to fight a ribbon pig. Or does it not count as jinxing since it was actually true? Perhaps this is just plain irony then.

Curse you irony. I hate you.

A slight nudge on my shoulder brought me back from my thoughts and I looked up to see Evan looking at me worriedly.

"You okay? You wouldn't answer me when I called you." He whispered to me. I couldn't help but smile because hey, it feels nice knowing that someone cares about you.

Nodding I lifted myself up slightly to get another peek over the bush. Maybe if the pigs weren't so close then Evan and I could just sneak our way past them-

I screamed.

"Oh my freaking gosh." I whispered to myself as I slowly backed away from the bush that had previously been the barrier between me, and mean looking pork with sharp teeth.

When I peeked over the pig was literally _right up in my face_ and so I believe I was completely justified in screaming. After screaming I quickly grabbed the potion crate and jumped away from the pig. From the corner of my eye I could see Evan doing the same albeit more quietly.

"Shoot, it's seen us now." That was Evan, but I didn't bother looking at him because that would mean averting my gaze from the ribbon pigs that might just be the cause of my death.

My thoughts were running a mile a minute with them ranging from _oh my gosh this is karma isn't it? _to _I didn't even get to go to Ludibrium yet! I want to see a city full of toys!_

I didn't even notice the figure that stood maybe a dozen or so feet down the pathway from where me and Evan was standing. However, I did notice the sound of something flying through the air before seeing the pig in front of me keel over with an arrow protruding from its neck.

Oh, _yuck _it was twitching. I feel kind of bad for it actually.

Turning my head I noticed Evan do the same and saw someone who was actually quite familiar.

Standing there with an arrow set and ready to be launched using her trusty bow was _Amie _the 'cool' archer girl who had provided protection on the trip from the Victoria Island Central Airport to Henesys.

My eyes widened and I almost called out to her, wanting to ask why she was here when I saw her eyes narrow in concentration before her arrow glowed green and was launched with a sort of green energy surrounding it. I couldn't help but follow the arrow with my eyes and although I was a bit late, I saw the arrow hit the largest pig of the group and going straight through it.

In a mass of squeals and oinks the pigs scattered and soon enough it was just me, Evan, Amie, and two dead pigs.

"Whoa." I turned to see Evan looking at Amie with awe and amazement. I frowned in confusion. She wasn't that amazing in my opinion. That just looked like a first job skill for archers.

I was going to ask Evan what his thoughts were when Amie interrupted me.

"Are you two okay?" She said as she glanced over at us before heading towards the pigs.

Nodding I walked over to Evan and nudged him in the side with my elbow. I heard an indignant _ow _and then was greeted by a hushed _what did you do that for?_

I gestured to where Amie was untying the ribbons from the pigs.

"Do you like, worship her now or something?"

His eyes widened and his face flushed before he slapped me on the arm. "What, no! Why would you think that?"

I placed my hands in front of me, palms facing outwards as I tried to calm him down. "Well from the look of your face earlier it seemed like you just saw a goddess." I took a quick glance at the subject of our conversation before continuing, "Then again, I suppose she's pretty enough."

Evan shook his head vehemently and I took slight amusement in the fact that his face was as ripe as a tomato.

"It's not like that! I just- I mean, don't you think that was really cool?" He started excitedly. "She was able to shoot it from _so _far and she was even able to kill it in one-hit!"

I blinked, slightly confused but Evan took my silence as permission to continue.

"I've always thought that archers were kind of cool because I'd see them around town a lot but I've never seen one in action before. How could she stay so calm and even concentrate in a situation like this? I was practically shaking in fear!" He exclaimed. I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face as I realized his eyes were practically shinning. At this point Amie had already started to approach us and from the way her face was heating up I could tell she'd heard at least some, if not all of what Evan had just said.

Grinning, I latched on to Evan's arm causing Evan to look at me weirdly. "Not that I'm against you laying on the praise for our dear savior but I think if you keep it up she might just explode from embarrassment."

His eyes widened and I got a close up view of him gawking in surprise as he noticed that _yes, the archer girl was in total hearing range _and _yes, she heard me fanboying about her earlier. _

Well, at least that's what I thought he noticed. It was probably somewhere along those lines.

There was a sort-of awkward silence that lasted for about a minute before I decided to act my (physical) age and play the role of a curious, innocent, and slightly scared seven-year old girl.

"Thank you _so_ much for saving me and Evan! I was _so_ scared I thought I was going to die." I exclaimed with wide eyes and a frightened expression. My grip on Evan tightened and I think my face was turning red because of my effort to not laugh at both Evan and Amie's expression. They stared at my clear mood whiplash and it took every ounce of me to school my features so that they remained slightly scared and panicked.

Removing my grip on Evan I linked my fingers together and lifted them to chest level. "You're Amie right? The one who rode on the bus with my class to protect us? I knew as soon as I first saw you that you were awesome."

The archer blinked at that before scratching the back of her neck rather awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah that's me and thanks I guess. But really, I'm not that awesome."

Inwardly I smirked. So it seems like that cool-attitude was just a façade, a good one too.

Outwardly though I beamed at her and I guess she could tell that I was going to launch into another round of praise because she quickly held up a hand to stop me. "Sorry but I need to go… do something. It was nice meeting the both of you but be more careful next time!" And with that she hurriedly walked in the direction of Henesys.

Now that I think about it, isn't that the direction she came from?

…Maybe I scared her a bit too much.

Biting the inside of my cheek I walked over to the bush that hid the crates that Evan and I had abandoned when Amie showed up. Following my lead, Evan also walked over to grab his crate. However I did a double-take when I noticed that Evan was scowling. Or at least, I think he was.

Picking up my crate I waited for Evan to do the same before nudging him slightly.

Oh, he just narrowed his eyes at me. He was _definitely _scowling.

"What's wrong Evan?" I asked.

He puffed out his cheeks before taking in a deep breath and sighing. Looking over at me a bit dejectedly he said, "You scared the cool archer girl away with your mood change."

I blinked before launching into a fit of giggles. "Her name is Amie and you really think so?"

"I know so."

Smiling, I hummed. "Did you want to praise her more or something?"

Evan shook his head before bumping into me and igniting a squeak from me as I tried to balance myself so that the crate wouldn't fall. I gave him the evil eye but he just laughed.

"Actually, I wanted to ask her some questions about being an archer." My steps slowed to a stop and I could feel my stomach churn. _This does not sound right. _

Evan however didn't notice this and kept going. "When Utah gets older he'll be the one who inherits the farm and so I was wondering what I should do with my life-" He glanced over his shoulder and frowned when he saw that I had stopped a few feet behind him

"What's wrong?" He asked and I could tell from his tone that his concern for me was sincere. "I'm not actually upset that you scared her away so you don't need to feel guilty."

I shook my head and gave a shaky smile as I slowly walked to catch up to him, my mind spinning with the amount of thoughts that were passing through it.

Why would Evan want to become an archer? He's supposed to be a dragon master, a mage. Although it's not like he knows about that just yet.

Finally I stepped in place with him and my smile turned sincere as I nudged him as a sign to keep leading the way.

This was probably just a passing thought but just to be safe…

"Well I suppose being an archer would be cool but don't you think being a mage would be even better?" I beamed at him.

He spared a curious glance at me before returning his sight on the path ahead of us. "I suppose so. But mages need to be really smart right? They need to be able to cast all of those spells and… well I'm not exactly the brightest in the bunch."

What.

I looked at him incredulously. "So what if you're not that smart-" I saw him grimace a bit, I guess he didn't like it when people degrade his intelligence. "It doesn't mean you can't be a mage. You can do anything if you try hard enough." And so I ended my short pep talk with a cliché but encouraging line at the end, absolute perfection. Someone should quote me on this.

However looking at his expression I saw he wasn't really convinced but that's all right. At least I've given him something to think about.

Anyways, it's time for a change in tactics-

"Oh look we're here." My thoughts were interrupted by Evan's cheery voice. I blinked and realized that we were already in front of his house. Leaning back slightly I also realized that I was only a few inches away from walking into the fence that surrounded the house.

Glaring at Evan I huffed at him while he set down his crate to get the key to open the gate. In just a minute tops we both stood by the door and since our arms were occupied with the crates Evan did the honor of kicking the door and calling for someone to open it.

"Hey I'm back! Our arms are full so can someone open the door?" He yelled, and after a few seconds I was tempted to yell too but the sound of footsteps approaching stopped me.

Soon enough the door opened revealing a woman with green eyes and light brown hair pulled into a ponytail. _Evan's mom _was the information my brain provided me with. I couldn't seem to recall her name though.

She noticed Evan first and telling from her facial expressions it looked like she was going to scold him, probably for taking so long when she noticed me standing by him. At first she just sort of stared at me causing me to fidget a little.

"Um, hi ma'am? I'm Eliza but-" I was interrupted by a squeal and I felt the crate being lifted from my arms. I watched as Evan's mom quickly placed the crate on what I assumed to be the kitchen table before walking back to me and Evan with a bright smile.

Shaking my arms slightly to get rid of the stiffness I glanced over at Evan who wore a resigned expression. I opened my mouth to ask him why he looked like that when I felt hands on my cheeks and my personal space being invaded.

"You are so cute! Just call me Auntie Anna okay sweetie?" Anna (Aunt Anna is too much of a mouthful) said as she pinched my cheeks. I tried to respond to that but what was supposed to be an _okay _turned into a jumbled mixture of sounds only remotely sounding like it.

It was at this time that Evan groaned. "Mom you're scaring her." Anna responded in kind by whacking him on the back of his head. Silently I thanked Evan for his sacrifice as I rubbed my sore cheeks. Why did adults like doing that? I just don't understand their logic.

Meanwhile I saw who seemed to be Evan's dad peek out from the kitchen with wide eyes. "Oh dear goddess, Evan's brought home a girl!"

Instantly I could feel my face warm and I couldn't help my squeak of _it's not like that at all!_

This caused Anna to look over to me curiously. "It's not?" Oh god she had thought of it that way too.

Shaking my head I spoke in a firm and clear voice, "Evan's my friend and I just wanted to help him carry the potions since it was too many for him to carry alone." A glance to the side revealed Evan nodding quickly and I couldn't help but smile at the slight flush on his face.

Ah, this is why Evan was one of my favorite Maple Story characters. He's just so cute.

"Aw, well that's too bad. But we'll still be seeing you around here more often right sweetie?" Anna sighed before smiling at me.

I gave an apologetic smile before latching onto Evan's arm, realizing that Evan's dad had taken the crate while I was talking to Anna. "Sorry but I actually just became his friend today and I'm just a tourist who's leaving… tomorrow." I had to pause for a second while I tried to remember our schedule. If my memory serves me correctly, (which it usually does) my class and I would be leaving to go to Ellinia in the afternoon tomorrow just a bit after lunch.

Evan's head swerved to look at me confusedly. Whoops, guess I forgot to tell him that.

"You're leaving tomorrow?"

Looking up at the ceiling I scratched my cheek. "Yeah… sorry, I forgot to tell you-"

Ow.

He hit me.

On the arm if you wanted me to be specific. But it actually didn't really hurt that much. I could tell he didn't put that much force into it. His expression however hurt _a lot. _

He didn't just look sad, he looked mad, upset, and maybe even a little devastated. I understood that of course, I even sympathized with it. I mean, if I made a friend and found out not too long after that said friend was going to leave the next day meaning and I wouldn't be able to see or talk to them anymore I'd be rather sad too.

And from what I'd noticed so far it seemed that Evan didn't really have any friends. I'm pretty sure he was being home schooled and while we were walking through Henesys he didn't wave or say hi to any of the kids that walked pass us. Only a passing glance was spared before he continued talking to me about the farm and other random stuff. Remembering that caused my heart to clench and a frown to make its way on to my face.

Evan's a loner, my dear precious favorite Maple Story character was a _loner _and I was going to contribute to his loneliness.

My frown turned into a scowl and from the corner of my eye I noticed Evan and his family's worried expressions but I was too deep into my thoughts to actually acknowledge it.

Maybe I wouldn't have to go without contact with him. Phones might not be commonly used in this world (or computers and I swear I felt like _dying_ when I found that out) but I was sure that mail still existed. How else would people be able to communicate anyways?

Although I wouldn't be able to do anything about the 'not seeing each other' part, (at least for now, I was going to do a heck of a lot of traveling when I get older _-cough-_ Ludibrium _-cough-_) I could definitely do something about the 'not talking to each other' part.

"But don't worry a bit Evan. We can still keep in touch!" I beamed at him brightly and it was a testament to how used to my personality Evan was even though I met him maybe around an hour ago that he wasn't really disturbed by my quick change in mood. His _family _however…

"Did you see that dear?" Anna said to her husband in what I assumed was supposed to be a hushed whisper. "She was scowling just a second ago and now she's smiling so bright! Do you think she's bipolar?"

Hey that's kind of rude. You're saying that like there's something wrong with bipolar people. Riley is bipolar and she's one of my most interesting friends… but it's better to not think of _that_ world now Eli. The present is what's important not the past after all.

"Mom we can both _hear _you." Evan drawled from my right side. I blinked at how close he was before he linked our arms together and leaned on to me. Ack, he was kind of heavy. "Now what were you saying about us being able to keep in touch?"

I grinned and proceeded to explain my idea. "Well you see it's simple actually. We can write letters to each other! I'll give you my address and you'll give me yours so we can write to each other whenever we want. Sure it'll take a few days for the other to reach it but hey, it's better than nothing right?"

Evan contemplated the idea in his head for a bit before smiling. "Yeah that'll work, but just to warn you my handwriting is kind of bad."

I snorted. "If you think yours is bad then I can't wait until you see mine. I don't know where or how the whole 'girls write really pretty' thing started but that definitely does not apply to me."

He gave a small smirk before removing his arm from mine and walking to stand in front of me with flair, both hands on his hips. "Well doesn't that just mean you aren't really a girl?"

My eyebrows rose and my eyes widened before I let out a squawk of indignation. "Excuse me! I am a _girl _and I have the body parts to prove it mister-"

Sadly Anna interrupted me before I could continue my rant by taking my arm and dragging me into the kitchen with an amused _why don't you help me make dinner in the kitchen sweetie._

Quickly I escaped from her grasp as soon as we entered the kitchen and I grabbed the first pen and paper I saw and started to scribble on my address along with my half-baked signature on the bottom of it.

Anna looked over my shoulder and I twitched when she said, "Your handwriting is quite messy sweetie."

Replying with a simple _I know _I stalked out of the kitchen and ripped the paper in half (I wrote my address on the top half) and seeing as how Evan wasn't paying attention I decided to shove both halves of the paper into Evan's face.

"Eh?" He blinked at the two papers before taking both of them and holding it in slight confusion.

Rolling my eyes I told him, "The one with the writing on it is my address." Then I proceeded to slam the pen into his hand, crumpling the paper a bit. "Now I want you to write your address on the blank one."

He nodded dumbly before snapping out of his daze. "Hey, can't you be a bit nicer Eli?" He complained as he wrote down his address, using the nearby wall to write on the paper.

Running my fingers through my ponytail I looked at him pointedly. "I am being nice! It's not like I shoved the pen into your face."

Evan laughed a bit and gave me back the now written on paper after sticking the pen into his pocket. "But you did shove the paper in my face."

Humming a bit I did a little twirl. "I couldn't help it since you were kind of spaced out."

We both chuckled at that and I watched as Evan opened his mouth to say something when I noticed the time on the clock that was placed on the far end of the room.

It was _four thirty-five._

All the groups were supposed to meet back at the hotel by four thirty.

I was going to be so dead when I got back.

Running up to Evan I gave him a quick hug before dashing away while waving my crumpled piece of paper in the air. "Sorry Evan but I was supposed to meet up with the rest of my classmates at the hotel five minutes ago! I'll definitely come by tomorrow before I leave!"

"Huh- wait!" Evan yelled as he tried to run after me.

Unfortunately for him I was a fast runner and his mom had a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. I jokingly blew him a kiss after saying another goodbye before sprinting towards Henesys.

* * *

As soon as I arrived at the hotel I was bombarded with both people and questions.

My classmates along with the chaperones had somehow lost the concept of _personal space_ and wouldn't stop getting in my face and asking me questions.

_Where were you?_

_Were you kidnapped?_

_Why weren't you with your group?_

I was about ready to snap at them but I was interrupted by Ms. Illia. Actually, _everyone _was interrupted by Ms. Illia.

She had done that clapping rhythm thing with her hands and like the brainwashed children we were we all immediately clapped to match it.

At that point she had received everyone's attention and then they even made a path for her leading straight to me. I'm not going to go into the detail about the lecture she gave me, (it was long and filled with a lot of hand gestures and a bunch of statements that I assumed were to make me try and feel guilty like _do you have any idea how worried we were?_) but after that she sent all of us to our rooms where our dinner would be delivered to us.

It was a rather boring night overall and I was so happy when I woke up the next day, incredibly anxious and excited to go to Evan's house.

But then Ms. Illia decided to assign a chaperone to watch over me _especially_ while we went through a specific agenda today. Apparently we were supposed to go to some places in a certain order and at the end we'd end up at the edge of town where a bus would be waiting to take us to Ellinia. The chaperone was supposed to make sure that I stayed with the group and didn't venture off by myself.

Thankfully though, Ms. Illia didn't take into account my cleverness and creativity and so I escaped my 'watcher' the first chance I got.

That first chance happened to be when I went to use the bathroom. If you can't tell where I'm going with this I basically just climbed out of the bathroom window. I knew movies had at least _some _amount of realism to them.

After running around a bit after the edge of Hennesys I was able to find Evan's house. Quietly I opened the gate and walked up to the door. While doing this however a thought occurred to me.

I remembered something I was going to say to Evan yesterday before being interrupted by none other than Evan himself.

Twisting the doorknob I couldn't help but grin as I realized that it was unlocked. (That's actually really bad but I was just happy that I might be able to surprise Evan.) I slammed the door open and happily saw Evan with wide eyes sitting on the couch eating cereal.

Although I might not be able to do anything about Evan liking archers instead of mages I can do something about something else.

"Hey Evan don't you think dragons are really cool?"

* * *

**Omg I'm done. **

**I'm so happy.**

**This isn't even how I planned it would end in my outline. But it was getting long, and this just seemed like a good way to end it. **

**Anyways! I'm sorry this chapter is a bit late. It's been over a week already. **

**I hope the length of this makes up for it though. Argh, it's long though. The longest chapter I've written so far. I don't want to edit it because that means reading it from the beginning…**

**Also, if you didn't notice I added in chapter titles along with a new summary! I feel like the new one describes more of the overall feel of the story. **

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Goodbyes and Magic**

**[Stats] (because I think this would be cool)**

**Started Writing: 4/17/14 (I'm sorry guys, it took me five days before starting on it)**

**Finished Writing: 4/24/14 (yay)**


	6. Short attention spans

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Six

* * *

I _probably _shouldn't have barged into Evan's house. I should have knocked on the door and waited for him to open it like a normal person would.

But then again, everyone's always telling me to be different and unique so _technically _I can attribute the blame for Evan nearly choking to death via his cereal on everyone else.

I'm joking, I know it was my fault I'm just trying to be funny okay.

But seriously, I can't believe how much of a wimp Evan is. Is it really such a surprise for me to barge into his house in the morning when I _clearly _told him yesterday that I'd be coming by the next day?

I sighed then continued to hit Evan's back repeatedly to try to ease his coughs. Thankfully though, after about maybe half a minute or so the coughs started to let up and Evan could manage _mostly _coherent sentences.

"How did you even get in here Eli?" He said in between coughs. I smiled sheepishly at him and pouted a bit after he glared at me.

"I'm hurt Evan, did you think that I picked the lock or something?" I asked him with my right hand on my heart acting rather dramatic about it.

He gave me a sour look but I could see the smile creeping up on his face. "Well I definitely wouldn't put it past you to."

Rolling my eyes I playfully shoved his arm. "Hmph, actually the door was unlocked. You guys should be more careful about that. I'm pretty sure you don't want weird people just coming into your house because of an unlocked door."

"It's obviously too late for that."

I clicked my tongue at him. "Excuse me, I'm not weird." Evan snorted at this and I kicked him in return. "I'm just _unique_."

He grinned at me and with a quick _I'll be right back_ he headed into the kitchen to wash his bowl and spoon.

After a bit of contemplation I sat on the side of the couch, next to where he had sat and stared at the ceiling wondering why it was so easy to talk to Evan.

With Macey, Luke, and all the others I remember being rather reserved most of the time. I'd jump from happy and excited for one moment and then to calm and nonchalant the next. Tilting my head slightly I smiled slightly. I suppose it's because Evan doesn't know _Eliza_, he knows _Elissa_.

Right now they're basically one and the same, or at least they're supposed to be. Elissa's soul is in Eliza's body with Eliza's soul being nowhere in sight.

According to my parents Eliza pre-amnesia was rather quiet and shy. I was surprised when I heard that but they quickly followed by also telling me that were actually happy that I was more outgoing now than before. However that posed a problem. Not acting like Eliza even if I had amnesia would seem suspicious. I don't think people with amnesia completely lose their personality and adopt a different one.

After hearing that I tried to be quieter, key word _tried_. Apparently I also failed horribly and my parents realized this and told me I didn't have to force myself to. They told me that I'd always be their daughter no matter how I acted and that they would always love me despite me not remembering them.

You have no idea how much it hurt to hear them say that because I _wasn't_ their daughter. They shouldn't love me because I was a complete and absolute stranger and I really couldn't have been happier to have taken drama as an elective last year because I'm sure it would've been strange for me to cry after hearing that.

But then again I suppose I could have passed it off as tears of happiness.

However, going back on the fact that I had no idea where Eliza's real soul went an idea popped up in my head that maybe she was stuck in my body back on Earth.

A seven-year old stuck in a fourteen-year old body? Now that would definitely be interesting. I hummed to myself.

Would that be more interesting than a fourteen-year old stuck in a seven-year old body? I laughed, quietly though so that Evan wouldn't think I was weird… or at least not anymore weird than he already thought I was.

Hmm, now that I thought about it wasn't Evan taking a bit too long? It shouldn't take more than ten minutes just to wash his dishes and then come back.

Standing up from the couch I walked towards the kitchen, ignoring the uncomfortable churning of my stomach that signaled my anxiety and worry. I looked inside and frowned when I saw that he wasn't there. On a possibly unrelated note the door that led to outside from the kitchen was open.

Oh who was I kidding that was definitely a completely related note. I can't believe I'm asking this but…

Did Evan just ditch me?

I blinked twice before shaking my head and walking towards the door. There was no way he'd ditch me. We were friends after all.

But… if he didn't ditch me then just where was he?

I sped up my pace as a rather disturbing scenario swirled around my head.

Kidnapped? By the Black Wings possibly?

I mentally smacked myself. No, there was no way that was possible. The Black Wings couldn't know that Evan was Freud's successor. Based on how old he looked from the game (to me he seemed maybe thirteen at the youngest) I still had about five years until he stumbled upon Mir. But then again, this world doesn't seem to be a carbon copy of the game if Evan's apparent archer worship was anything to go by.

Sighing, I stepped outside and looked around and spotted Evan's mom tending to some flowers. I couldn't help but smile as I admired her small garden.

As if she could sense my gaze Anna turned around and her face lit up almost instantly.

"Eliza! When did you get here sweetie?" She beamed at me. She got up and looked like she wanted to give me a hug but then she realized how dirty her hands were from tending to her plants.

Stepping outside more and closing the door behind me I asked her about Evan's whereabouts.

Anna tilted her head in thought, "Evan? I saw Utah drag him out of the kitchen towards the pig stables just awhile ago."

My eyes widened. Utah! He was Evan's older brother wasn't he? Why didn't I see him when I was here last night anyways?

As I opened my mouth to ask just where Utah was yesterday I immediately snapped it shut as Anna continued talking. "Oh don't worry about Evan sweetie, Utah is Evan's older brother. He's really nice you see. I believe he said that he just wanted to have a nice chat with Evan. Brother bonding you see."

I smiled hesitantly as I realized my practically fatal screw up. That's right. I wasn't supposed to know who Utah was. Anna probably thought that my surprise meant that I had thought Evan was in trouble or something like that.

Politely excusing myself I headed in the general direction of where Anna pointed the pig stables were and promised to myself to be more careful about what I say.

It was a rather short walk and soon enough I could hear Utah and Evan talking about… me?

"…leaving in the afternoon?" Hmm, I think that's Utah speaking. It sounded too deep to be Evan's voice that's for sure.

"Yeah, she's not from around here and said that she's basically going around the island."

I crept closer to them and thanked the goddess Rhine (see I'm getting good at adapting to this world) that they had their backs facing me.

From where I was walking I saw Evan's shoulders slump and Utah awkwardly pat him on the shoulder.

"She said you could write to each other so things should still be-"

_CRACK._

Why do you forsake me Rhine? I thought for a second there that you actually liked me.

If you couldn't tell what just happened I had stepped on a branch, alerting the two boys' of my presence.

I awkwardly waved at a wide-eyed Evan and a curious Utah. "Hey Evan, since you didn't come back I came looking for you."

Evan walked over to me immediately sprouting apologies but I ignored them in favor of watching Utah.

While Evan looked like Anna, Utah took after both her and the dad, Gustav. He had the black hair from Gustav and the green eyes from Anna.

Actually he was kind of cute-

Wait no, not going there Eli. He's too old for you, especially in _this _body. Besides he already had that other girl… Camilia? It was something like that.

Snapping out of my thoughts I turned to Evan who was still saying sorry albeit in different ways. Although it was rather amusing I was getting a bit tired of it.

"Don't worry about it Evan. You're fine so it's all good." I pat his head a few times, mentally wondering just how his hair could be so soft. They didn't have fancy conditioner here did they?

Evan smiled at me but the smile soon turned into a frown. "Hey, when are you leaving Eli?"

I blinked. Then I looked to the nonexistent watch on my wrist then cursed.

Smiling sheepishly I rubbed the back of my neck. "Err, sometime after lunch I think?"

That's when Utah decided to step into the conversation. "Ah yeah, that's right you're a tourist here aren't you Eli? You came with your classmates to go around the island?"

Leaning on one of the pig stables to get a good look at the pig I offered him a thumbs up since I was absorbed in watching the pig. This pig was incredibly quiet and didn't even squeal or oink at me. It was vastly different from the ones me and Evan had met yesterday.

Faintly I heard a sigh but dismissed it. I wonder how they trained them-

I fell back suddenly causing me to land on my butt due to someone pulling on my arm roughly. Looking at the perpetrator I saw an exasperated looking Evan.

"You have a short attention span you know." He said to me while extending his hand.

Feeling quite grateful I took it and pulled myself up, not minding the little voice in my head that said _bring him down with you_. Taking a deep breath I opened my mouth to ask if they had the time on them when Utah interrupted me.

"Are you by any chance from the Edelstein elementary school?"

My head whipped around to stare at him. "Yeah, but how did you know that?"

Utah chuckled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's a small world isn't it Evan?"

"Yeah I guess so. It looks like we were going to meet each other anyways." Evan stretched before walking back towards the house.

Going after him I tugged on his arm. "Wait what's going on? What am I missing here?"

He ignored me and Utah took his place on the other side of me but still avoiding my outstretched leg that tried to trip him.

"Don't be mad Eli, you'll find out soon." Utah said as we neared the house.

I frowned however as I realized it was rather noisy. I could hear a mix of a bunch of people talking which didn't make any sense since the only people who lived here were Evan and his family.

But, as soon as we turned the corner to come into the view of the front of the house it all became clear. My class and the chaperones were all there apparently being talked to by Anna and Gustav.

At our arrival we were met by cheers and yells from my classmates.

"There she is! I found her Ms. Illia!"

"I can't believe you climbed through the bathroom window!"

"You're going to be in _so _much trouble!"

However I tuned all that out because all of a sudden I was being crushed in a tight bear hug.

Mimicking choking sounds I was released from the hold and I was brought face to face with a teary-eyed Macey.

"I'm so mad at you! How could you just leave? And through the bathroom window too!" She nearly shouted at me. I grimaced and took a step back, not really liking how my personal space bubble was being invaded.

Unfortunately I ended up bumping into a certain someone else too.

"Now now Eli there's no trying to escape us. We were really worried. You could have gotten lost or something you know." Luke grinned at me, but I could see the relief in his eyes. All of a sudden I couldn't help but feel the guilt of my actions bearing down on me. Although I didn't really know the two of them that well they were pretty much part of the few people I was moderately close with.

It was important to keep my cover though too seeing as how they were Eliza's friends.

Sighing, I looked towards the side to see Evan staring confusedly and Utah smiling amusingly. Utah gave me a thumbs up and I was about to stick my tongue at him like the seven-year old I was supposed to be when Anna interrupted.

"Oh what a coincidence, you're the missing student from Edelstein elementary school Eli?" She smiled at me. I nodded my head and immediately her smile turned into a frown, uh oh.

Placing her hands on her hips she reprimanded me. "I'm happy that you were able to make friends with Evan, he certainly needs them," Insert an offended sounding _mom don't say that!_ From I'm sure you know who. "But it's not good to go off by yourself Eli! You're so young! You could have gotten lost, or kidnapped, or-"

"Yes I know, and I'm really sorry about that. I won't do it again. I promise." I interrupted her, not really wanting to know what else she was going to say. Really, I got the gist of it so all that other stuff isn't necessary.

Although... I wonder if I could be considered a bad person for crossing my fingers while saying that and not feeling the least bit guilty. It's not like I'm the only one who does it anyways.

* * *

So with that, Anna and Gustav led the tour around the pig farm with Utah and Evan helping out here and there. (They both glared at me as I happily stood and listened to Anna and Gustav talk while they ran around the farm getting stuff to show us all. Really though it was just karma. That's what they get for not telling me my class was taking a tour here. I probably could have discreetly shown up and pretend I had actually been there the entire time but _no_. That was too much to ask for.)

Overall the tour was rather boring but it ended nicely since we were able to have a picnic in one of the grassy fields by the farm. There was no bugs too so I was rather happy about it.

Evan and the rest of his family joined us too and I had the pleasure of introducing everyone to each other.

"_Macey, Luke, everyone else: This is Evan and his favorite animals are dragons."_

"_Wait what, when did I ever say that! They're your favorite anyways aren't they?"_

"_They can be both our favorites."_

"_I don't have a say in this don't I?"_

"_Oh good Evan you're learning."_

However, all good things must come to an end and soon enough Ms. Illia was telling all of us to clean up so that we could head on over to Ellinia already. I tried to clean _really_ slowly but Macey caught on to what I was doing and quickly threw away my trash while I was contemplating how well it would naturally degrade in the environment if I just left it there.

Moving on, mine and Evan's goodbye wasn't exactly teary or very sad at all. I bet that it was rather confusing on his part though.

"_Okay Evan, don't forget to write to me okay? I expect a letter to be waiting for me when I get home got it?"_

"_Yeah sure, I'll send you a bunch of letters. It'll be like we're actually face to face talking to each other."_

"_Heh, yeah I suppose so. Oh and Evan?_

"_What?"_

"_Don't trust strangers okay? You never know what their intentions may be." _

"_Huh? What does intentions mean? And you know you were a stranger when I first met you too."_

"_Fine, don't trust creepy strangers- I'm coming Ms. Illia! Sheesh, bye Evan!" _

Yay for foreshadowing. It's sort of like that at least. Maybe this time around Evan won't cause too much trouble for Aran. After all it was because of Evan helping out that Black Wings dude that Aran had to fix things up right? Ah, oh well. If that wasn't the case then my advice is still good.

Anyways, looks like the next stop for this island tour is Ellinia. I hope I don't meet anyone I know there. Meeting Evan was enough of a surprise for me.

… I just jinxed myself didn't I.

Shit.

* * *

**AN: Okay so this chapter is late, I know that. **

**This chapter is kind of short, I know that too.**

**Super sorry for the lateness. I was stressing over my waltz routine for P.E for the last couple of days so I couldn't really concentrate on writing.**

**Next chapter is going to be pretty long though if things go as planned so I'll make sure to get it started on as soon as possible. Tomorrow most likely, yeah probably.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Stalkers and Magic (For real now) **

**[Stats] **

**Started Writing: 4/29/14 **

**Finished Writing: 5/9/14**


	7. Let's Play With Fire

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Seven

* * *

The bus ride on the way there was rather uneventful. Turns out there was a sectioned off-road going from Henesys to Ellinia so we didn't have to worry about monsters or anything of that sort.

To be honest I was rather upset after hearing that. I had hoped that Amie would play the role of 'guard' for our bus ride there but oh well.

Moving on, I was actually gifted the surprise of finding out that our bus ride to Ellinia wasn't going to be all that short. In total it was going to take about two hours which was about double the time it took to go from the airport (which was located between Lith Harbor and Sleepywood according to Ms. Illia) to Henesys.

For the most part I just slept. There wasn't much to look at through the window and due to being full from lunch, almost everyone followed my lead and tried to get some sleep.

Notice I said _almost _everyone.

"Hey do you want to play cards with me Eli?" Macey asked cheerfully, awakening me from my dear sleep.

I grunted and tiredly blinked my eyes open, feeling just a bit groggy. After about a minute or so I sat mostly awake however leaning on the window for support.

"Care to repeat that Macey? Didn't quite catch that." I yawned and checked my watch. I had slept for about an hour and a half which when counting the maybe ten minutes or so of the ride I had been able to stay awake meant that we were almost to Ellinia.

Macey didn't seem sleepy or tired in the least bit and from the few times I stumbled in and out of consciousness during my sleep I was pretty sure she had stayed awake the entire time. No idea how she was able to do that but it seems like she's reached her max so she's trying to bug me to relieve her boredom.

"Let's play cards, you can choose the game." She said as she passed me the deck. I shuffled them lazily and named the first game that came to my mind.

"Goldfish?" I inquired. Macey nodded and enthusiastically took the cards I gave her and readied them for the soon-to-be-starting game.

I won't go too into detail about what happened but long story short it turns out I suck at goldfish. Badly. Or it could just be that my luck has run out completely because out of the twenty-something games we played I won three. One of them wasn't even a fair win though since I looked at her cards when she left them unattended while talking to Ms. Illia.

"Ah look outside," Macey smiled and I turned to the front of the bus where she was looking and my eyes widened a bit as I saw the dark green outline of trees slowly getting bigger and bigger. "Looks like we're almost there!" She continued happily.

The latter of what Macey said awoke a good amount of my classmates and soon enough, chatter erupted and the formerly quiet bus was filled with excited cheers and questions.

"You know, isn't Ellinia like, _up in the trees_? How are we going to get there in a bus?" I heard Luke ask from behind me.

"Eh, you're right. Just _how _are we getting there?" Macey replied with a small frown.

I blinked before acknowledging what I thought to be the most logical idea. "We're probably going to get dropped off near the town and walk the rest of the way maybe?"

That caused a couple of _boos _and complains from those sitting near us.

"What? But I don't want to walk!"

"Neither do I but it's not like we have a choice."

"This sucks."

I sighed and slouched further into my seat. I wasn't too keen on the idea of walking either, but like that one person said it wasn't like we had a choice.

"Listen up everyone! We're going to get dropped off near the edge of the forest and-" Ms. Illia started but was interrupted by another round of complains. "I don't want to hear it. We're going to walk part of the way because that's the only way to get in understood?"

There were a few half-hearted agreements to that but for the most part the rest of the trip was silent.

* * *

Let me tell you, walking on a thick tree branch _without _railings or basically anything that would prevent me from falling to my death was not, and is not a very pleasant experience.

The paths in Ellinia were very much the same as they were in the game. They consisted of extremely long tree branches covered in green leaves here and there with wooden planked bridges that connected the gaps between branches.

The branches themselves were about as wide and flat enough that three people could walk in the middle of the branch without fear of falling off. However, that didn't stop many of us from clinging to each other to stay as away from the edge as possible.

Belatedly I thought as Macey and Luke clung to either side of me (seeing as how _I _was the unlucky middle person) just why exactly were we going to Ellinia if the way there was dangerous enough?

Then my mental question was answered when I saw one of my classmates trip and fall off the branch igniting various pitched screams from those around me. I had only taken a step forward when all of a sudden a bright blue light appeared where the girl had just been before she fell and lo and behold, there she was.

This was followed by our guide (a nineteen year old boy who went by the name of James) reprimanding the girl as he waved around his previously unseen wand.

I sighed, _thank god_. So it wasn't like our lives were really in danger. Our dear guide was a Magician and would be able to teleport us back up to the branch therefore preventing us from our deaths if we happened to fall off for whatever reason.

Then I blinked. Wait, of course our guide was a Magician. There was no way Ms. Illia would let us come here, _actually, _there was no way _any _of our parents would have let us go on this trip knowing we'd go to Ellinia if they weren't a hundred percent sure we'd be perfectly safe.

At that thought my mind went back to when me and Evan almost got attacked by wild pigs but I shook it off. That was _my _fault since I went adventuring off on my own and was completely unrelated to this topic anyways.

After that, the walk was very… normal I guess. Since now we all knew we weren't in any danger we took to talking among ourselves and playing around a bit. This led to a few more people falling off and James getting a bit peeved at us.

* * *

"I present to you all the wonderful town of faeries and Magicians, Ellinia!" James said rather dramatically. Unfortunately, I was situated towards the back of the group and adding that onto the fact that I was quite short, it made me unable to see what was going on towards the front.

Irritably I stood on the tips of my toes to get a better look much like how some others were doing and my eyes widened.

I was able to just barely see over the tops of people's heads but I could see a wide opening of space where most of the trees parted and various branches that interconnected to serve as sidewalks of sorts. The tree trunks that surrounded and were located in the space had many buildings of different sizes built into them with the familiar designs of the one's from Maple Story decorated on them.

Winged people I assumed to be faeries loitered near buildings talking among each other while dozens of people dressed in robes and carrying either wands or staves ran through the paths as if the fact that they could fall to their deaths if they slipped didn't bother them in the least. But then again, they were Magicians so they could probably teleport back onto the branch if they happened to fall off for some reason.

A few people even stopped to glance at us curiously before dismissing us and going off to do whatever they needed to do. An even fewer amount said _welcome to Ellinia! _or something along those lines before running to their planned destination.

I could tell by the looks of my classmates faces that they were in awe of the beautiful and nature-y town. I really couldn't help but smile a bit as I caught a glimpse of James' proud face as he basked in the glory of his town.

Then there was _fire_.

Bright, hot red flames burned on one of the tall tree trunks to my right and I gasped as a gust of wind blew past my classmates and I, bringing with it the smell of burning wood and leaves along with smoke.

Coughs were heard throughout and my eyes watered a bit as I blinked up at the flames when all of a sudden there was a ringing in my ears. The next following second, another gust of wind blew past but this time it was cold, freezing even. Faintly I heard people chant _Cold Beam! _and the fire was quickly extinguished. Through the steam I could see glistening icicles protruding from the thick tree trunk and I simply wondered about just _how _magic worked in this world.

A loud exasperated sigh caught my attention and I maneuvered my way to the front of the group to see James rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.

"Okay, I'll take care of it then." James said to a girl his age to which she beamed at him in response before running off to who knows where.

I watched confused as he ran his fingers through his hair and twirled his wand using his other hand. What did he mean by _I'll take care of it then_?

James sighed again and cleared his throat, catching all of our attentions. "Lucky for you, or unlucky i suppose, depending on how you view the situation, you got to see first hand what magic can do. Now you're going to see another magic demonstration as I get rid of the ice over there." He said while gesturing to the particular tree trunk.

A small tug on my shirt signified that Macey finally was able to maneuver herself to where I was while the following whack on my head signified the same for Luke too.

"Hey! You just ditched us, not cool and totally against what Ms. Illia said." Luke whispered softly, eyes on James as he got into a stance to do what I assumed to be a spell.

"I didn't ditch you, I just walked ahead to get a better look at things. And what do you mean _against what Ms. Illia said_? I don't remember her saying anything about me not being able to ditch you guys. _Which _I didn't since I did not ditch you guys." I added the last part as an after thought right before Luke opened his mouth to probably say _see! you did ditch us!_

He frowned and looked like he was going to say something else when all of a sudden the air started to feel warm. I turned just in time to see James cast a fire arrow. Oddly it looked to be completely off from what I assumed was the target, the ice on the tree.

"What the-" I began before my voice died in my throat. My eyes followed the flaming arrow as it grew in size and swerved in direction so that it went straight through the ice sideways so that it didn't touch the tree.

The ice melted in just a couple of seconds right before my eyes and I stared in awe at James who stood grinning, twirling his wand again. "Thought that I had bad aim huh?" He smirked.

I could only nod dumbly as he chuckled. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. After all I'm the Youth Mage President."

This time it was Macey who spoke up. "Youth Mage President? What's that?"

"Yeah, what's that? Is that supposed to be like Student Council President or something?" I couldn't help but add.

James looked surprised for a second before realization hit him. "Ah yes, that's right. I supposed you could say it's kind of like that. I'll be sure to explain more when we get to the Inn but before we do that…" He turned and beckoned someone to come forward. I looked at him weirdly, there wasn't anyone there-

A bright blue light signaled the teleportation of someone and when the light faded, showing who had just teleported I couldn't help but gape.

Is that…?

"Now Oz, I want you to apologize for what you did earlier. You should have known that we'd be having guests today which meant _absolutely _no wild displays of magic. I'm sure you don't want me to assign you more magical control classes." James reprimanded the girl beside him, Oz.

I stared dumbly, almost unable to process the fact that Oz, the _Chief of the Blaze Wizards _was standing only a few feet away from me. However my face morphed into a frown as I took in her appearance. The long bright red hair I expected only met half of my expectations. Oz's slightly wavy hair was styled in a short bob that barely passed her chin. Her expression was not at all cheerful like I'd assumed it would be and she seemed rather bored, only showing a hint of annoyance at James scolding.

Oh, and to add the icing onto the cake, she looked to be only around my actual age so about fourteen or so.

Three words. What the hell?

* * *

**I'm so sorry for the late chapter! It's been like almost three weeks already. **

**And this is also a bit of a short chapter too…**

**This seemed like a good place to end though and I kind of wanted to get a chapter out already.**

**The good news however is that I'm on summer vacation now! I'll have a lot more time to be writing PTS so expect chapter updates to be a lot more frequent.**

**Thank you to those who have been reading this so far, I really appreciate it. **

**Not going to do a '**_**Next time on Past The Screen**_**' because I don't want to make any promises.**

**[Stats] **

**Started Writing: 5/24/14 (I'm so sorry, I had to start over. Read my profile for more info.)**

**Finished Writing: 5/29/14 (Although I had to rewrite the first scene a couple of times I was really motivated to write.)**


	8. Friends Stick Up For Each Other

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Eight

* * *

Now that I think about it, it's day… six I think? I've been in the Maple World for about six days. Just a little under a week.

I frowned, six days? That didn't sound right. I've been here for that long already? Mentally I counted back the days. I first got here Thursday night so that would be day one, now it was Tuesday so… oh, it actually was six days.

Time was passing by so quickly. Just how long was I going to be here? Sure, being here wasn't _too _bad but… this wasn't home.

I shook my head and grimaced. Why was I thinking such negative thoughts now? Brooding over it wasn't going to change anything so-

"Hey what's up with your face Eli? You look like you're constipated." Luke shoved me playfully, causing my train of thought to crash and burn.

Scowling, I was about to shove him back when I felt Macey nudge me from my other side. "You were spacing out Eli, look-" She gestured to the space around us and I blinked confusedly as I realized that my classmates were gone from the small room we had used to take cover from a sudden downpour (for some odd reason the trees didn't do much to block out rain unfortunately). "The rain let up awhile ago so they all left already to explore Ellinia, we're the only ones left."

"Not the only ones." I turned and stared at the figure seated not too far from where the three of us were standing.

Oz sighed and got up from her chair before heading for the door. "Come on you three, or do you not want to explore Ellinia? I'm absolutely fine with that since that means less work for me." She called to us from the doorway.

My brows furrowed. Wait, what?

Two more sighs caught my ears and I turned side to side to see both Macey and Luke giving me exasperated looks.

"I told you she wasn't paying attention." Luke remarked casually.

"Well it's not her fault. Eli's just got a lot on her mind after all." Macey rebutted. "Amnesia does that to you doesn't it?"

It was at that moment that Oz decided to step into the conversation. "Amnesia? You have amnesia?" She asked while walking up to me for what I assumed to be closer examination.

I nodded cautiously, having a slight bad feeling about this.

Oz hummed thoughtfully, "What was the cause of it? Maybe one of the Priest's could take a look at you."

Priest? Did she mean the Magician class _Priest _or did she mean…?

"I don't see how a religious expert would help her amnesia." Luke stated blandly and was kicked in the shin by Macey for his opinion on this topic.

"That was so _rude_ Luke!" She hissed to him, causing me to chuckle slightly at their actions.

I saw Oz raise an eyebrow in return before she took to clarifying what she said, "I didn't mean Priest as in the _religious _kind, I meant it in the magical kind. _Priest _is the term used for third tier Magicians who've taken to studying Holy Magic."

Interesting…It looks like they use the term _tier _here and not _job _like how they did back in the game. I suppose _second job, third job_ and such would be rather weird in this case.

Also, I think it's safe to assume that the names for the… tiers in this world are the same as those in the game at least for Magicians but _just _to be sure…

"What other magic studies are there? What are their tiers called?" I inquired, trying my best to sound curious. "I would possibly like to become a Magician in the future so any information on it would be great." I added after a beat of silence. It was slightly true after all, I loved any and all classes from MapleStory that used magic.

Both my friends turned to look at me surprised while Oz gave a slight smile.

"You want to be a Magician?" She asked, and I nodded in answer which caused her to sigh. I could feel Macey and Luke's stares burning into me for some reason (Was it such a surprise that I wanted to be a Magician?) but I ignored them in favor of keeping my eyes on Oz.

Oz sat criss-cross on the floor and gestured for the rest of us to do the same.

"You're all from Edelstein correct?"

We all nodded, slightly confused about why she'd ask us that. (I was also wondering whether my other questions would be answered but I waved that thought away.)

Blowing away a strand of hair that was in her face, Oz leaned back slightly and stared at the ceiling. "No offense but it'd be pretty hard for you to become a Magician here, I would know."

I could feel my brow furrowing and a slight pout making its way on my face. "Well I didn't think it'd be easy but what do you mean by, _I would know_?"

"It's simple, almost all Magicians here come from a line of Magicians. Either both their parents are Magicians or at least one of them are. Not everyone can do magic after all, only those with an aptitude for it." She frowned slightly at the last part before drawing a breath and continuing. "There are rarely cases like me, who are able to use magic without having a Magician in their family tree _somewhere_. In my opinion, it's hardest to be a Magician since you need to have a certain… something in you to cast spells. All classes use skills that may incorporate some magic but as Magicians we deal with raw magic which I suppose is hard for a lot of people to do."

We were all quiet after that, not sure what to say to that until a question popped into my mind.

"You say that you're not from here Oz," I began cautiously, since this might be a sensitive topic. After a beat of silence I continued. "Then where are you from?"

I glanced at Luke and Macey and I saw that they eagerly awaited Oz's answer. Probably not as eager as I was though. Knowing that Oz started off as a normal Magician wasn't too surprising but still a bit surprising nonetheless. However, I had no doubt that Oz's hometown would be something I didn't expect-

"I'm from Kerning City. I actually come from a line of skilled thieves."

_Oh._

What?

My eyes blinked, unable to process the information I was just given before it finally clicked.

_Kerning City. A line of skilled thieves. _

This was an unexpected development.

"Wait… what do you mean by _a line of skilled thieves_?" Macey questioned, she seemed calm and unaffected but the waver in her voice as she said the word _thieves _gave her away. It's not like I could blame her though. My guard was up just a bit more after hearing that. I liked thieves enough in the game and heck, _Phantom _was pretty much my favorite Hero class but in real life… Just thinking about it left a bad taste in my mouth.

If I wasn't mistaken, one of the _tiers _in the thief class was _Assassin_. It practically exuded a _dark _and _dangerous _feeling from it.

A slight humming sound brought me back from my thoughts and I looked up to see Oz smiling at us. "Scared now huh? Not like I could blame you."

I bit my lip, was this why Oz seemed different from how she was from the game? Because she was from a family of thieves? But if that's true... how did she become who she was in the game then? Did this mean that the game's representation of this world wasn't very accurate?

All these questions swirled around in my head and I could feel my frustration growing.

Faintly I heard someone calling my name but I shoved that thought out of my head to make room for more questions and theories. Finally though I was roughly broken away from it all when I received a hard whack on the head.

"Ouch!" I cried out reflexively and my hands made its way to the bump that was no doubt forming on my head. "What was that for?" I called out practically instinctively.

Looking up I saw Oz looking at me with narrowed eyes, holding a wand much like James along with Luke and Macey hovering near me almost cautiously.

"What… happened?" I asked them. My mind was strangely blank now, I could only barely recall what I was just thinking about. After effects from being hit in the head maybe? That caused me to frown and I opened my mouth to speak when I was hushed by Oz.

She placed her hand on my forehead and I looked at her inquisitively. She sighed, "I could feel the… mana around you getting restless."

"Restless?"

"Mana?"

I blinked and looked at Macey and Luke who in turn looked at me. My eyes widened in slight realization. I had a general idea about what _mana _was but as for Macey and Luke…

"Oh yeah, that too. What do you mean by mana?" I added sheepishly.

Oz looked at me questioningly for a bit before turning her attention to all three of us. "To answer your question, mana is I guess you could call it _magical energy_."

"Magical energy?" I echoed in sync with my two friends.

The red-haired Magician nodded. "Yes, magical energy. Everyone has magical energy but Magicians and others who use magic tend to have more than others."

"But what did you mean by _restless _then?" Luke chimed in. "How can magical energy be restless? I don't get it."

We all watched as Oz contemplated what we assumed to be her answer to Luke's question. After a minute or so she said thoughtfully, "Well… I don't know how to explain it really. It's a bit like intuition, or just… you can _feel _that the mana is restless. I suppose that's a trait that Magicians posses maybe?"

I nodded, accepting the explanation but a quick glance at the others showed that they were still confused on the matter. Oh well.

There was a small period of silence (I couldn't help but feel that this was happening _way _too often) before I decided to end it by saying the first thing that was on my mind.

"Could I see your wand?" I practically blurted out. The other three in the room started at that but Oz recovered quick enough and threw her wand over at me.

Unsurprisingly I got hit in the face, I didn't have the best hand-eye coordination after all.

"Oh shoot sorry! Are you okay?" The Fire-powered Magician got up to walk over towards me but I waved her off.

"Ah don't worry I'm fine. It's my fault anyways for not catching it." I said while inspecting the wand that I held in my hands.

The wand was probably only a little longer than a foot and while not especially heavy, wasn't too light either. A good balance I guess. It looked to be made of ice (which seemed ironic considering Oz's type of magic), or maybe crystal would be a better way to describe it. The wand overall looked pretty familiar but just what…

_Crystal Wand _was what my brain supplied for me after a few seconds of thinking.

Ah yes, that was the name of the wand from the game. This wand really did resemble the _Crystal Wand _from Maple Story. Although I suppose that this wand doesn't have a name like it did from the game.

Huh… I wonder how wands are made here. Were they mass-produced?

A resounding clap brought me to attention and I looked up to see Oz walking over to me. Wordlessly I handed back her wand to which she grinned (mood change much? Maybe she's more comfortable around us after telling us her secret?) saying, "Well enough of that, I seem to remember that this is free time for you guys which means that we should be exploring!"

With that said, she burst through the doors while still maintaining her almost child-like grin on her face. I almost couldn't help the smile that made its way on to my face seeing as her sudden enthusiasm was practically contagious. It reminded me of how I pictured the Oz from the game to be like. Happy and cheerful.

"Let's go look at some of the stores Oz!" Macey suggested as we quickly walked through the pathways of Ellinia. We followed her in a single file line with her at the front followed by me, Macey, and lastly Luke. Although the pace we were going at was a bit more fast than what we would've liked we knew that if by chance we fell off there was no doubt Oz would save us.

I then experienced a near heart attack for the first time in this world as Oz _turned around _and for some reason _kept on walking _without a single pause or slowing in her step. She continued to walk backwards as she spoke to us almost uncaring of the fact that she couldn't see where she was going anymore.

"Nah, you guys can go look at them later. I wanna show you guys some _really _fun and cool stuff." She winked before turning again to face the front and I gave a soft sigh of relief at that.

However it seemed that my sigh wasn't all that soft or maybe it was just that Oz had great hearing because she burst into laughter. "Don't worry about me, I know the pathways here like the back of my hand. There's absolutely no way I'd fall."

"Tell us that earlier, you almost gave me a heart attack!" I heard Luke call out from behind me and I spared a quick glance behind me and couldn't help but giggle a bit at his slightly annoyed expression. _So cute. _

"Me too! And don't bother laughing Eli because I can tell you were affected too!" Macey added in and I erupted into full-blown laughter at that.

An exaggerated sigh reached my ears and I saw Oz speed up her pace to a jog as she practically yelled, "Come on and pick up the pace you guys, I wanna get there as fast as possible!"

Shoot, we're going faster now? I don't like fast, I wasn't a very good runner as Elissa and I'm pretty sure the same can apply for Eliza too.

"Race! Let's race! First to make it there after Oz wins!" Macey shouted cheerfully, breaking into a run from behind me. She easily caught up to me and even boldly did a 360 degree turn so that Luke and I could see her stick her tongue out at us.

"Oh you're on!" Luke grinned and he too broke into a run, easily passing me in just a few seconds. I sighed and started to jog slightly faster. As long as I have them in my sight then I'm all good. Maybe the two of them will exhaust their stamina with how they're running like this. Maybe, hopefully, since I still wanted to win after all. My health and well-being were my first priority though.

* * *

Turns out I did win. Macey and Luke both started to die out a little over halfway there and walked the last quarter of the way leaving me to be the victor. Sweet.

"That's not _fair_! You cheated!" Luke called out childishly.

"It's not cheating, I just paced myself." I grinned, patting his head as he lay face up on the ground. (Or should I say branch instead?)

We weren't exactly _there_ yet but Oz ended the competition early since we needed to be careful in our current area. The branches were noticeably thinner and to add-on to that, there were monsters roaming the area.

Yeah you didn't hear wrong, I really did say _monsters_. Oz took us beyond the town's borders so we could have, in her own words, 'an _real _adventure.' "

It probably wasn't the smartest idea but Oz seemed skilled enough at least. She had been able to take care of any monsters (those stumps, mushrooms, and what not) before they could even come close enough to any of us which caused me to wonder just how strong she was.

"We're just about there you guys." She informed us as we walked along the pathway before stopping suddenly. We all stopped in time with her since we were all used to it already. Oz stopping in the middle of the path almost always meant one thing. There were monsters up ahead.

I watched fascinated as she cast a small energy bolt and hurled it at an unsuspecting stump, causing it to fall off the branch. After that she took close examinations of our surroundings, making sure it was all clear for us to go.

A few more minutes of walking and we reached a rope ladder leading to a higher branch. Oz stepped back and motioned for us to climb it first and seeing as how I was the first person after her I got the luxury of trying it out first. I didn't worry too much though, I had faith that Oz would save me if I happened to fall.

The rope ladder wasn't too long since the branch wasn't all that high above our own and in no time I reached the top. After stabilizing myself on the branch and giving the go ahead for Macey to start climbing I looked around and gasped.

"Oh wow…"

Just a few feet away from me at the edge of the branch I could see a tree trunk not too far from it. That tree trunk was as thick and tall as any of the others but the thing that caught my eye was the way it parted slightly creating an opening that showed a mixture of green and white light.

Walking up to it to get a closer look I inspected the opening. It was wide enough for maybe two people to go inside. However the light coming from it although faint, seemed to block anything that might be located past it. There was no knowing just what was behind the light unless you actually walked through it.

"You can try touching it if you want, you won't get sucked in or anything." I heard Oz say from behind me. I turned around and saw her along with Luke and Macey walking up to me. Much like how I presumed I looked like, my two friends had their mouth's open and eyes wide in awe.

After hearing it was safe, Macey extended her hand palms up towards it and we all watched as her hand stopped suddenly, almost like it hit a wall.

"Eh?" I watched as Macey tried to push past the invisible wall but to no avail.

"That's kind of weird." Luke pointed out, reaching towards it too, only to be stopped by the same wall as Macey.

I refrained from trying, having seen the results from two people was already enough. I was pretty sure third try wouldn't make any difference. Oz however stepped up and placed her hand right in the middle of Macey's and Luke's.

"This is the first time I've shown this to anyone." She said softly, causing us to all turn to her. "I'm not sure why but… I just feel like I can trust you guys you know? I know you won't judge me because of my background like how some other people do." The last part had a slightly bitter edge to it causing me to frown.

"Well I'm honored." I beamed at her when she turned to me with wide eyes. "Maybe it's because we're just kids and so our minds are more open but… I think even if I was older I still wouldn't judge you just because your family happened to be Thieves."

Macey was next. "I don't really get the whole _open mind _thing from what Eli said but…" I winced internally at that, it definitely didn't sound like something a seven-year old would say. I've gotta work on that. "I agree. Sure I was a bit scared at first but since you've only been nice to us I don't see why I should think of you as anything other than a nice person."

The three of us turned to Luke who grunted at first but spoke his piece. "Just because your family members are Thieves as in the… tier? Yeah that. I don't see what's so bad about it. I'm sure they're pretty good people since they're your family after all."

I smiled. I didn't really realize it but Eliza kept pretty awesome people around her. Or should I say… _I _kept awesome people around her seeing as how I'm now…

A cold feeling washed over me for a second before passing. _I can't think of that now, bad thoughts like that are bad_.

I clenched my fists and shook my head slightly. I'd think of matters like that some other time. It's not like I was in a rush or anything after all.

"You okay Eli?" Oz shook my shoulder a bit. I smiled at her telling her _yeah I'm just fine_.

And with that said I took out a small notebook and pen from my jeans pocket before almost shoving it her face saying, "Hey, give me your address. I'll write to you when I get home."

Luke and Macey both decided to jump on me at that point, adding in their own comments.

"Eh? You're going to write to her as in writing letters? Let me copy it when we get back, I wanna write letters to Oz too!" Macey.

"Oi, let me see that when we get back. You're not allowed to hog Oz to yourself, I wanna write to her too." Luke.

I hushed them both and turned to look at Oz with puppy dog eyes. Although she seemed hesitant (and absolutely _embarrassed_) at first, I was able to convince her (with the help of Macey and Luke of course) to write her address on the small notebook.

I grinned as I stuffed the notebook and pen pack into my pocket. "I'll make sure to write to you as soon as we get back to Edelstein so be ready okay?" My two friends then piped in their agreements to this soon after I said it.

The redhead laughed slightly before leading us a bit away from the portal.

"It's about time we get back." She said as she started rummaging through her bag. I watched her curiously as she took out four rolled up scrolls which were dull green before handing one to each of us.

Was this possibly…?

"This is a return scroll to Ellinia." Oz stated proudly. "The way it works is that if you say _return to Ellinia! _after opening the scroll and holding on to it you'll be teleported back to Ellinia. Specifically in a room we have reserved for teleportations via said scroll."

The three of us looked at it in wonder and we all slowly unrolled the scroll, careful not to rip or tear it in any place. I looked at Macey and Luke's nervous faces and decided to go first since they were obviously too scared to.

"Return to Ellinia!" I said while staring at the scroll in anticipation. To my amazement it started to glow slightly before a bright light enveloped me. Just a second or two later the light faded and I looked around in awe as I saw various people who I assumed were Magicians walking through and about the room. One of them stepped up to me with a smile.

"By the way you're clutching at thin air and looking at us in awe I can assume that this was your first time using a teleportation scroll?" The person said, a girl maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. Her platinum blonde hair was styled in a braid and her blue eyes showed absolute patience and tranquility. I couldn't help but relax in her presence.

I nodded and looked down curiously to see that the scroll was indeed gone. I opened and closed my fists experimentally and looked back up at the sound of the girl chuckling a bit.

"It's so interesting seeing how fascinated other people are by teleportation scrolls since I'm so used to it. I don't even blink an eye when I use it-" She smiled slightly but that smile faltered at the appearance of my two friends and Oz.

Oz walked up to me, sighing in relief. "Ah there you are. I wonder why we didn't end up teleporting in the same area."

I blinked, then looked around the room. This room was actually quite large, I noticed. It would make sense though why I hadn't seen the three of them even though they were supposed to teleport here right after me.

"Who knows?" I shrugged and then turned to the nice girl to thank her for her help with… uh, reassuring me I guess? However I froze in place when I saw that the smile on the girls face had turned into an ugly scowl. Oz noticed this too and stopped walking towards me with Macey and Luke following her lead and stopping in place.

The girl narrowed her eyes at Oz. "What were you doing with these children, _thief_?"

I frowned at the girl's tone. It didn't sound _anything _like the nice and calm girl that I had talked to earlier. Worry tugged at me and I looked to Oz, feeling like my stomach had just fallen to my feet.

The red-haired Magician had a blank expression on her face as she talked nonchalantly. "I was just showing them around Ellinia. James made me do it, if you have a problem with it then bring it up with him."

"Don't you mean _outside _of Ellinia?" The girl asked incredulously. "Obviously if you went outside the town's borders, which is actually the only reason why you'd come back via return scroll, then that means you weren't showing them around Ellinia. And just what were you thinking doing that? They could have gotten hurt! But I guess it's not like you'd care anyways seeing as how heartless you are." She added the last part almost haughtily which was paired with a slight sneer.

I stared at the girl, disbelief running through my mind. I'm pretty sure the heartless person here was _her_.

While clenching my fists I tried my best to refrain from doing anything a seven-year old girl wouldn't do. That included swearing and cursing the girl for dissing my new friend.

However… seeing as how I was only a seven-year old girl, that meant that I could actually…

With a not-so-innocent grin I kicked the girl in the shins causing her to shriek slightly. Then I stood in front of her and stuck my tongue out at her before running up to Oz and clutching one of her arms towards me tightly.

"The heartless person here is you! You're so mean, I don't like you at all!" I yelled at her childishly before turning my head away with a huff. From the corner of my eye I saw Oz look at me bewildered and I nodded at Luke and Macey slightly. Thankfully they got the hint and didn't hesitate to do what I hinted them to. Although, I had a feeling they were going to do it whether I asked them to or not anyways.

Luke grabbed on to Oz's other arm and Macey jumped on her back, causing Oz to fall over from the unexpected weight. After a few seconds of regaining her balance Macey and Luke locked eyes before saying in sync, "I don't like you either. You're such a bully!"

I grinned internally but outwardly I remained absolutely cool and indifferent. Or at least, that's how I assumed I looked outwardly. People had started to form a circle around us and were staring. I turned my head to look at the girl who looked absolutely shocked, not to mention offended.

"You little-" She sputtered indignantly before huffing and stalking away, the people who had surrounded us parting away for her.

A couple of seconds after that everyone else started going about their own business again and us three kids exchanged the same cat-like grins on our faces.

"The mission was a success you two, great job!" I whispered to them while giving them a thumbs up with my hand that wasn't currently clutching on to Oz's arm.

Our glee was sadly interrupted though when we heard Oz give an exasperated sigh. "I seriously can't believe you guys did that. You didn't have to you know."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, and so we were supposed to just sit back and watch as she talked bad about you? I don't think so."

Macey piped in her thoughts too. "Actually it's _stand back_ Luke seeing as how we were standing not sitting. But everything else is good and I agree wholeheartedly. You're our friend Oz, and friends stick up for each other."

Then the three of them turned to me and I took that as my cue to say something really inspiring or something like that. Unfortunately my stomach had other ideas.

A loud growl from the offending body part caused them to erupt in laughter while I pouted childishly. "That just totally ruined my moment, so not fair!"

After their laughter settled down, Oz took us to eat ice cream (it wasn't dinnertime just yet and besides, we were supposed to eat that with the rest of the class anyways) before taking us to the Inn we were staying at.

To our surprise, almost everyone from our class was already here and from the smell of the kitchens we could tell that dinner was also already being made.

The three of us said our goodbyes to Oz dramatically with tears in our eyes which caused her to giggle slightly at us. She gave us all a big hug before giving her own goodbyes and promising that she'd write back to us as soon as she receives our letters. Overall it wasn't the saddest goodbye I suppose, but it was probably because we knew we'd be able to talk to each other again soon enough.

And so, after we ate a great dinner I got to watch as day turned into night. Well not really since the trees blocked the sun but still.

Moving past that though, me and the rest of my classmates soon started getting ready to go to bed in our own respective rooms before finally falling into a deep sleep where we'd dream of whatever we ended up dreaming. In fact, we all planned to sleep like the dead until it was _at least _nine in the morning and we were actually very committed to making the plan work if I did say so myself.

...

Sadly, that plan of ours failed not even an hour after it was put into motion.

"Wait a second, what did you just say? We're leaving to go to Perion _right now_?"

My poor, poor sleep.

* * *

**Long chapter, slightly to make up for how short the last one was! :)**

**This chapter was a pain to edit. It's the longest chapter so far and I really didn't want to read it over to look for mistakes. Obviously I got over that feeling eventually though. **

**It took roughly a week to finish this. I'm very sorry for how long it took considering I'm on summer vacation now. **

**At least I'm getting better at sticking to my outline. I kind of wanted to end earlier but I kept on going since I wanted to finish up Ellinia already and move on. **

**Although I did edit this chapter I did sort of rush through it a bit. If you find any mistakes or things that don't really make sense then feel free to leave a review telling me about them or just message me about it. **

**I think I'll refrain from doing a _Next Time _for this chapter too, just because.**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 5/31/14**

**Finished Writing: 6/5/14 (It's done~)**


	9. Coliseum Fun

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Nine

* * *

"Hurry up before they catch up Eliza!"

"I told you to just call me Eli and- _Oh my goddess they're catching up to us!_"

Belatedly I wondered just how I got myself into this mess.

But I suppose you could say that it all started when I overslept this morning.

* * *

In my dream I saw myself, Eliza, walking through a corridor. It was dark, empty, and it looked never-ending.

That however, didn't seem to bother my dream self in the least bit. She just kept walking and walking. She never stopped, or at least, she didn't stop until she reached the end.

It was odd. Very odd. One second the end still seemed far away and the next - she was there. Staring into a cracked mirror split right in two.

On the left side things were normal. I saw the long purple hair and bright blue eyes of Eliza Hertsh. On the other… I saw black hair and dull brown eyes covered by glasses, Elissa Saris, the name of the girl I was born as.

"I wonder…" Dream me spoke softly. She didn't seem sad, only thoughtful.

I watched as she seemed to glitch, going between purple to black. Eliza to Elissa. "Who am I now?" It was like she didn't really mind what answer she got. Didn't really care whether it was right or wrong.

"I am me. That's all there is to it." I told her. The words sprang out from me before I could stop them but dream me considered them. Then she turned to look straight at me, wherever I was and asked a simple question.

"Then just who is _me_?"

* * *

I woke with a start. Bits and pieces of a dream slipped away from me until the only thing I could recall from it was a dark corridor… and a mirror.

Frowning, I sat up and yawned. If I couldn't remember it then it probably wasn't very important right?

"Oh you're awake Eliza!"

I turned to see one of my classmates, Emily I think her name was, at the door of the Inn room we shared with the rest of the girls in our class.

And speaking of sharing the Inn room… where was everyone else? After Ms. Illia informed us of her miscommunication with the bus company we all had to deal with a long night on the road to get to Perion. Practically all of us crashed in our rooms when we finally arrived at our Inn during the early hours of the morning.

"If you were wondering where everyone else was, they all already left to go exploring. We tried to wake you up, especially Macey, but you just _wouldn't _get up no matter what we did." Emily added as she made her way over to me. "Come on, it's about eleven already. I'm sure you're hungry."

I gawked at her. "Eleven? It's that late?"

"Yeah, lunch is already over though. We ate just a while ago actually but I'm sure there's still some food left over." She informed me cheerfully.

My stomach seemed rather happy about that and instead of me voicing my thanks it decided to do so in my stead.

"Oh you be quiet. If you were so hungry then you should have woken me up earlier." I reprimanded the offending body part which caused Emily to erupt into giggles. Smiling slightly, I let her lead the way into the Inn's dining room and sat down at a table while she went to get food.

The dining room wasn't very large but at the same time wasn't very small either. There was a couple of other people eating at different tables. A Warrior over there, two Magicians on that side, an Archer just a few tables behind me, (Evan was the first thing that came to my mind at that, which was bad because he's supposed to be a Magician not an Archer get your mind back on track Eli) and a few supposedly regular travelers talking at the counter.

While all the other occupants of the room were rather reserved and quiet (which included me sans my stomach) the travelers seemed to make up for the quietness by making a loud ruckus.

The guy at the end took a drink from a bottle (beer probably) before adding into whatever the group had been talking about earlier. "Yeah, I feel bad for that kid. It's bad luck having to challenge one of the top warriors in the Coliseum."

A girl (the only one mind you) who sat in the middle of the group gave a loud sigh. "They should just stop with the random battle set ups and go with partnering those with equal experience or strength. It's no fun watching a one-sided battle."

One of the other guys gave a laugh at that. "But we're still going to watch it anyways right? I mean, it's _Marxe_. Even if it's going to be one-sided at least we'll be able to see him in action. He almost never battles in the Coliseum anymore."

At that point I was cut off from listening in on the conversation however when Emily, along with Cynthia (another classmate, and I think she was Emily's cousin too) showed up holding a delicious looking plate of food and a glass of water.

There was fried chicken, rice, a roll of bread, some type of meat I didn't know but looked good and _oh my god_ \- there was a slice of chocolate cake on that plate too!

After a couple of seconds of pretty much vibrating in my seat I finally settled down as Emily placed the plate in front of me while Cynthia did the same with the water and the utensils. I dug in immediately.

"Thank… you so… much!" I said to them in between bites. Everything was _delicious_. Especially the chocolate cake. Did I ever mention how much I love chocolate cake? My love for chocolate cake was probably on par with how much Eliza (not me Eliza though, the other Eliza. That's kind of weird actually...) loved the color blue.

While I ate my lunch, Emily and Cynthia took their seats across from me. This simple action made me notice something and I paused while eating to ask them about it.

"Hey… Earlier you said that everyone else was out adventuring." I began, bringing their attention towards me. "Why are you guys here then?"

I watched as Emily made a face. "Well, I _want _to go out exploring but practically everyone outside looks scary!"

Cynthia then added, "It's too hot outside. This is practically a desert."

"Practically? I thought this was a desert?"

"Is it? Maybe it is then."

I listened as they continued the conversation without me. Talking about whatever seemed to come on their mind. I wasn't really offended for being left out of it though. I was eating after all.

As I finished the last of my chocolate cake I was brought back into the conversation as Emily asked what I was going to do after eating.

Hm, what was I going to do?

Earlier those people at the counter (they had already left awhile ago) were talking about a Coliseum battle. That sounded interesting.

"I think I'll go to the Coliseum." I answered after I drank the last of my water. Then I stood up and headed towards the kitchen to drop off my plates.

Mind you, I almost, _almost_ missed the look of almost dumbstruck horror displayed on Emily and Cynthia's faces. After all, It probably wasn't normal for a seven-year old girl to want to watch warriors fight each other in a Coliseum filled with many other warriors.

I really wasn't ever going to get the hang of _acting my age_ now was I? Oh well.

"W-Why would you want to go see a Coliseum battle?" I heard Emily stutter as she chased after me.

My reply was an almost monotone sounding, "It seems like it'll be interesting."

That caused Cynthia to giggle a bit as she brought up the rear of our small group.

Emily didn't seem amused in the least bit. In fact, I would say she almost looked scandalized.

"Why are you laughing? What if something happens to her Cyn?"

Huh, there's no one around. I guess I'll just go place my plate in the sink.

"Oh please, that's why there's these things called laws. She'll be fine."

The encouragement was welcomed as always. The sort-of jinx however wasn't.

I couldn't help but sigh internally.

I'm always getting jinxed aren't I? It makes me almost not want to go to the Coliseum.

_Almost_.

I took a quick trip back to my room to change into proper clothes (a light green tank top and knee-length shorts to help beat the heat) and grab my backpack which contained my wallet, notebook, and pencil. After that I tied my hair up into a high pony tail (which still reached my middle back in length, I _really _needed to get it cut) and said my goodbyes to a sort-of frantic Emily and an amused Cynthia.

Off to the Coliseum I go.

* * *

It really wasn't too hard to find it. I just had to follow all the excited chatter.

A bunch of people were talking about the upcoming battle between that new warrior (what was his name? I don't remember) and that other stronger warrior, I knew his name was Marxe.

Frankly, I was quite happy that I didn't miss it while I was eating. I'd like to see how a professional (or well, a skilled) warrior fights.

Upon finally arriving at the Coliseum I found that I had a good amount of time to spare. An entire half hour to be exact.

I was tempted to go looking around but by the looks of how people were flooding the Coliseum and mobbing the ticket stands I could tell that, that wasn't a very good idea.

From there I walked over to the ticket stand. I inwardly dreaded the long wait for tickets and the body heat I could already feel emanating from the crowd. Thankfully however, being a seven-year old girl had a few perks to it.

"Make way! There's a little girl who wants to buy a ticket!" Some random guy yelled over the screaming crowd. Soon enough there was more people yelling it, passing the message down the line until everyone went quiet. I watched in slight surprise and confusion as the crowd started to part for me.

Ignoring the muttered whispers going through the crowds I made my way to the ticket stand and ordered my ticket to the battle. While the lady took my money and got the ticket ready I leaned towards her and whispered under my breath softly.

"What just happened?"

The lady smiled at me genuinely albeit a bit sadly as she handed me my ticket and started to get my change ready. "Ah, it's just that a couple of days ago there was a kid like you who wanted to watch a battle. He tried to order a ticket but ended up getting injured in the crowd. A broken arm I believe. I'm sure you've seen how big and strong pretty much all the other people are. They make getting a ticket a competition in its own right. They're very good people though and don't want a repeat of that incident."

With that said she shooed me away towards the entrance and I watched as once again people parted so that I could enter the Coliseum. It wasn't until I finally exited the crowd that the yelling and the pushing of the crowd started again.

I hummed a bit to myself. "Well… that was interesting."

* * *

I realized, after about twenty-five or so minutes, that majority of the people of Perion although strong - were a bunch of softies.

How could I tell you ask? Well, after entering the Coliseum I immediately headed towards the seats at the front. After all, I was short so I wouldn't be able to see over any heads. At that time the Coliseum wasn't very crowded and the area that I sat at had practically no people at all. People apparently liked the seats towards the back for some reason.

Maybe it was better to watch the battles from afar? Who knows.

Anyways, after time passed and I realized that I was still lacking seat mates not only next to me, but also behind me, (I was at the very front) I started to get a bit suspicious.

Seeing as how there is now only roughly five minutes left to the battle and the entire Coliseum is full save my little area I was able to come to a certain conclusion.

Apparently to them I'm as fragile as glass and they all seem to think that by sitting next to me I'll break. Which isn't true, not in the least bit.

I huffed. Quite loudly in fact. Although that might not _actually _be why no one else wants to sit next to me I'm pretty sure it was at least close to the real reason.

My thoughts however was interrupted by a voice calling me to attention.

"Um, Miss? Do you mind if I sit here?"

I turned to see a boy maybe thirteen years old with shoulder length light brown hair and dark blue eyes. He looked kind of like a girl actually.

"Yeah sure, feel free to." I smiled at him. He smiled back before taking a seat next to me, however still keeping a distance. I wanted to roll my eyes but settled with leaning towards him slightly. As expected he leaned away from me in turn

I frowned. "Why does everyone keep their distance from me?" I asked, making myself sound as childish as possible.

The boy looked at me in what seemed to be panic. "Ah- Uh… Well I'm not sure about everyone else but I just want to make sure you're not uncomfortable or anything." He talked frantically before calming down slightly towards the end. "Actually, shouldn't you be here with a parent or guardian of sorts?"

I shook my head. "It's just me. I can take care of myself anyways."

He didn't seem to believe me but before he could respond the Coliseum was filled with the sound of the announcer's voice.

"Hello and welcome to the Coliseum everyone!" The voice of the announcer was loud and clear to my ears and I looked to the side of the Coliseum where I could see a commentator box of sorts. "Thank you for coming to see the battle between upcoming warrior Roy and the Dragon Knight Marxe! At the moment the Coliseum's official bet takers going around to take your bets on who is going to win this exciting battle. Please, place your bets now!"

I couldn't help the scoff that escaped me. It was obvious who was going to win with that introduction. The announcer couldn't be any more biased as to who was going to win the battle.

"You okay?" The boy looked at me weirdly. I gave a soft chuckle before extending my hand and introducing myself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My name is Eliza, but you can call me Eli. What's yours?"

He blinked twice and smiled before grasping my hand in a handshake and giving me his name, _Alexius_.

"So… are you going to bet on someone?" I ask him. It's not like I could ask him for his name and then just ignore him after all.

Alexius seems to think for a moment before shaking his head. "No… There isn't really a point I think. It's obvious who is going to win."

I nod in understanding and watch as the bet taker approached us. He goes over some of the betting rules which pretty much fly over my head. My seven-year old mind doesn't really like processing that kind of stuff.

"I'll bet 500 mesos on Roy." I tell the bet taker as I take out my wallet from my bag. I really couldn't help the unladylike snort that escaped me as I caught a glimpse of Alexius' dumbfounded expression.

The bet taker takes all of this in stride and her turns to Alexius after taking my bet and handing me my slip. "Are you betting you young man? Or are you going to let your little sister do all the betting?" He says it all jokingly but it still makes Alexius splutter for a bit before he takes out a couple of 100 mesos bills. Five in total and hands them over.

"Put me down for Roy too then since my _dear _sister is betting on him." He says while giving a none too subtle glare at me. The bet taker gleefully takes the mesos before handing him his betting slip. The man then walked over to another person a short distance away from us two (people still are avoiding sitting next to me like _why_) and Alexius took that chance to shove me in the arm.

I give a small whining sound. "What did you do that for?" I pout but it transforms to a slight smirk as I add, "You're so mean _big brother_."

"Oh put a sock in it." He rolls his eyes but I can see the side of his mouth twitch up.

Our banter however is interrupted by the loud voice of the announcer filling up the Coliseum.

"Now it's the time you've all been waiting for. Please welcome our two contestants, Roy and Marxe!." He yells enthusiastically and the crowd goes wild.

Two people step out from opposite sides of the arena and it isn't hard to guess who is who. On the left is Roy, a teen only a couple of years older than Alexius wearing basic armor and carrying a simple sword. The right on the other hand showcases a young man with shiny and complicated looking armor almost resembling a dragon, the same being said for his sword. It's rather fitting for someone with the _Dragon Knight_ title.

I, along with however many others sitting in the Coliseum wait in anticipation for the battle starts. Although I didn't think Roy really stood a chance of beating Marxe I always enjoyed rooting for the underdog. Someone had to do it anyways.

It turned out however, that the underdog wasn't really the underdog. It was a deceiving-dog if I had anything to say about it.

As soon as the match started Marxe charged at Roy, using what I assumed to be a special warrior skill because there was this _light energy _or something like that coming from his sword. I almost winced, wanting to cover my eyes from seeing blood or anything of that sorts. Killing your opponent might be banned in the Coliseum but that didn't mean you couldn't draw blood.

I wondered at that moment just why I was here.

Then that moment passed and the most weirdest thing happened.

Roy disappeared.

Right when the blade looked like it was going to hit his shoulder (right shoulder since the left contained his heart and remember, no killing) he just vanished into thin air.

"What the…" I heard Alexius mutter from beside me.

I watched as Marxe looked around the battle area cautiously. From my spot in the audience though I don't see Roy _at all _so just where-

All of a sudden there was the sound of a body hitting the floor. In the one second that I took my eyes off of Marxe, Roy somehow took him down. There was no blood. Just Marxe lying on the floor unconscious with Roy standing next to him casually.

It went from absolute silence to extreme _chaos_.

There were the people shouting about how _cool _that was and _what just happened I didn't see a thing!_

Then there was people cheering because _someone finally took that bastard down_.

And then there was…

"Cheat! He _cheated _how else could he have beat Marxe!"

"There's _no way_ he would've been able to beat him! He's too weak!"

"_Foul! _I call a foul!"

I looked around hesitantly as I saw the crowd get more and more heated. Thankfully though the announcer finally took this time to step in.

"Well… that was an interesting match. Thank you all for coming to watch it and…" His voice was nervous and anxious. I'm sure he wasn't sure what to make of the match either. "And congratulations to the only two people who bet on Roy! Alexius and Eliza let's give a round of applause to them!" He tried to say enthusiastically and I could feel my stomach churn.

_Uh oh._

At first people were looking around to see just who _Alexius _and _Eliza _were and I resisted the urge to get up and run away because that would just make it incredibly _obvious _who I was when all of a sudden Alexius got up from his seat and just _ran._

Oh come on. Seriously? I just said it earlier, that's just making it obvious.

I groaned but got up from my seat and started running too. Right when a good amount of the Coliseum just exploded.

Not good, not good _at all_. That was the only thought running through my mind as I heard various screams and yells from the Coliseum audience.

"Look it's those two!"

"They were probably in league with Roy!"

And of course, let's not forget the most important one.

"Get them!"

I whined pitifully in my mind.

Just what happened to _lets not go near her because she's just a child and we might break her_?

* * *

And so now we're back to the present.

By present, I mean when me and Alexius were being chased by angry Coliseum people. They were probably upset about losing their bets. I could understand, to a certain extent their anger. But seriously. This is bad sportsmanship.

"Argh they're catching up!" I told Alexius who was running not too far in front of me. My legs were starting to ache and my breaths were coming in pants.

He glanced behind him and frowned at seeing my state. I stuck my tongue out at him.

I was _seven _okay? I didn't have the seemingly monster stamina that he had. (That was an exaggeration really but that was just how my mind decided to cope with things.)

Alexius made a quick turn to the left and I rushed after him before stopping because I couldn't see him anymore.

"Where-" I started but all of a sudden a hand was covering my mouth and I was pulled into an alley that I hadn't seen before.

"Shush." The light brunet ordered me. Instantly I stopped talking and we waited in anticipation for our pursuers.

Soon enough I could hear the upcoming footsteps and I stopped breathing even though Alexius was still covering my mouth with my hand.

"Hey where did they go?"

"Damn, did we lose them?"

And insert your choice of swear words.

I wasn't really sure _why _they were so mad at us. I mean, we were just kids after all. But I still couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as I heard their footsteps move farther and farther away from our alley.

"Ew, yuck." Alexius grimaced as he removed his hand from my mouth.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I just sighed. That's basically just warm air Alexius. Would you rather I have bitten your hand?"

"Well no, of course not but…" The brunet seemed almost at a lost for words and we soon fell into a period of awkward silence.

I scratched my head. What was I supposed to say now? Do I just leave? That sounds kind of rude…

"Ah, uhm-" Alexius started, and I turned to see him looking at basically anywhere other than at me. "Well sorry about earlier."

I stared. He glanced at me before quickly avoiding contact again.

"Looking back on it... It probably wasn't the best idea to go running off you know… back at the Coliseum."

Oh… That's what he meant. "It's okay. I got a lot of exercise out of it at least." I said while trying my best to smile despite the sort-of awkward atmosphere.

He nodded, smiling just a bit and cleared his throat. "So… what are you going to do now?"

"Hm, look around a bit I guess. Explore. You know, stuff like that." I shrugged.

Alexius looked at me weirdly for a moment. "You're not from around here?"

I shook my head.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense since I've never seen you around before. You're hair is kind of hard to miss too." He chuckled towards the end. I glared which just caused him to laugh even more.

Huh, so it looks like purple hair isn't exactly considered _normal _here either. People didn't really seem to make a big deal about it at least.

A cough interrupted me from my thoughts and I looked at Alexius questioningly.

"I suppose to make up for you having to run around a lot I can show you around?" He asked almost hopefully.

Hm, wander around aimlessly and potentially get lost to the point where I can't find my way back to the Inn or have a nice local person show me around?

Well the answer's obvious of course.

"Well when you put it that way…" I said thoughtfully. "I guess I'll have to accept your offer."

Alexius grinned. "Okay then, I suppose first we should start with-"

* * *

Okay, so I understand that Alex (the brunet said that _Alexius _was too much of a mouthful) felt bad for the _run away while being chased by angry Coliseum people_ thing but…

"I'm _tired_. We've been walking a lot and it's really _hot_." I whined.

Alex frowned. "Oh come on. There's still so much to see! How long are you staying here anyways?"

I paused, trying to think for a second. "We're leaving in the morning I think?"

His eyes widened. "Even more so we shouldn't stop then!"

"What, no! Can't we rest for a little bit?" I pleaded slightly.

The brunet just looked at me.

Drat. Looks like I'm going to have to pull out the big guns here.

"_Please?_" I gave him my best puppy dog eyes look and tried to look as much like I was going to pass out on the sidewalk right then and there.

We locked eyes for a couple of seconds and I swear that some of the passersby were starting to look at us weirdly. (Not like I'd blame them for it though.)

"Fine." He relented while dragging me towards a certain store. "Let's go get some ice cream since it's so hot, I'll buy."

I cheered, doing a fist pump into the air because hey, _free ice cream!_

After Alex dragged me through the door I couldn't help but sigh in bliss.

Ah, air con. How I love you so.

"I want chocolate chip cookie dough!" I told him as I made my way to reserve a table for us. I picked one by a window so that I could watch other people as they walked by.

People watching was actually a really fun activity.

After a few minutes of waiting Alex made his way over to the table and plopped down on the seat across from me, sliding my ice cream cup over to my side.

"Are all little sisters as whiny and demanding as you are?" He questioned casually.

I gasped. And then proceeded to hit him on the arm from across the table.

"Ow, I suppose I forgot abusive too-" I cut him off by kicking him in the shin.

I huffed at him and crossed my arms, ignoring his cry of pain. (He was exaggerating anyways.) "That's what you get for calling me those things. I'm _definitely _not whiny, or demanding and _especially _not abusive."

"Could've fooled me- Hey, I bought you that ice cream so stop attacking me woman!"

I smiled slightly as I ate my ice cream and we both settled into a sort of comfortable silence.

Of course Alex would decide to break it though.

"Just where are you from anyways? Why are you here?" He asked curiously.

"Edelstein. I'm here with my classmates and we're basically here for a Victoria Island road trip." I said immediately before pausing slightly. Huh… I could have sworn I said almost the same thing to…

I was brought back to reality when I heard Alex's worried voice. "You okay? Something wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I was just feeling déjà vu. I think I said pretty much the same thing to Oz just yesterday after all. She bought me and my friends ice cream too actually." I added the last part as an after thought.

Alex blinked. "Oz?"

A smile made its way on to my face as I thought of the red-haired magician. "Oz is a Magician I met yesterday while we were at Ellinia."

"I see." He said thoughtfully. "Do you like… go out of your way to meet new people or something. I mean, haven't you parents ever told you not to talk to strangers?"

I scowled. "Well _yeah _but…"

Did I really just talk to random people out of the blue? There was Oz but she was assigned to my group to watch over us. On the other hand there's Evan and in his case… I _kind of _knew him already so did that really count as meeting a new person?

My scowl turned into a frown and I stared into my ice cream thoughtfully.

Of course it counted as meeting a new person. Just because I sort-of knew how Evan was due to MapleStory it didn't guarantee he'd be exactly like the character I knew in the game.

Also... It definitely wouldn't be a good idea to just rely on my gaming knowledge considering the fact that it didn't seem very accurate so far.

Or maybe I was just too far back in time? Argh, this is too much for my seven-year old brain to handle.

"Are you growling at me?" A voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Alex looking at me weirdly.

Oh shoot. I didn't mean to do that.

I made a sweeping gesture with one of my hands. "Nope. My thoughts are just being annoying at the moment. Don't mind it."

"You don't really act your age you know." He informed me while smiling. Was he amused by me?

"Tch, if I had a hundred mesos for every time someone told me that…" I trailed off, fighting to keep back a smile as Alex broke out into laughter across from me.

"Sorry," He gasped. "It's just that-" He went back to laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah I get it." Or at least I'm pretty sure I do.

I waited a bit for his laughter to settle down. Soon enough he started to calm down and all of a sudden an idea hit me.

"Wait, what are you doing?" I heard Alex ask. I ignored him in favor of digging through my backpack.

"Here we go!" I said cheerfully as I pulled out my notebook and pencil. Dutifully I turned to the next empty page after Oz's address and handed the notebook over to him. "Write your address on this please."

Alex looked at me blankly before taking the notebook and pencil. "Why?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because I'm going to write you letters silly."

A moment passed and I practically sighed in frustration.

"Look, I don't know about you but I think of you as my friend. Just because I'm leaving tomorrow doesn't mean we can't keep in touch." I said, looking at him firmly in the eye.

His expression turned into something akin to happiness and I watched as he wrote down his address before returning it to me.

"What am I supposed to do then? Am I not allowed to send letters to you?" He inquired, finishing the last of his ice cream.

My ice cream! I looked at it in a panic and noticed it was almost melted. Shoot.

Quickly I ate the last of it, not wanting it to eat melted ice cream. "I send my letter first then you see my address on the letter and send me a letter back." I grinned. "Simple enough right?"

He nodded. "Sounds good to me. Make sure you tell me all about Edelstein okay? I've never been there. I only know that it's a mining town...it _is _a mining town right?"

"Yeah it is." I affirmed as I picked up both his and my trash and headed to the trash can to throw it away.

We both met up outside and I frowned as I noticed that it was getting kind of dark out.

"You should probably get back to your classmates." The brunet advised as he too noticed the change in the sky.

I sighed. "Yeah that's probably for the best-" I started before pausing in realization.

Wait… where was the Inn we were staying at again?

"Something wrong?" Alex asked curiously.

I slumped slightly. "I don't know how to get back to the Inn we're staying at."

A short burst of laughter from my new friend caused me to fume a bit. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I won't, or well, I'll stop laughing. Come on, I'll show you where it is. What's it called again?" He smiled reliably, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"I believe it was called _The Rocky Inn _I think?"

"Oh that's good. It's not too far from here actually. Let's go little sister." He grinned. I almost wanted to curse that bet taker guy for starting this whole _little sister _thing.

I pouted as he led the way to the Inn. "I'm actually the older sister in my family you know. I have two younger siblings. A girl and a boy. They're twins, fraternal of course."

He hummed. "Really? I'm the younger brother in mines. I have one older brother but I always wanted a younger sibling."

"Is that so?"

"Yup. You're close enough to it so you'll do."

"I don't know why but I feel offended for some reason." I frowned, but it really didn't last too long.

"Haha, well looks like we're here." He said as he gestured to the familiar looking Inn building.

I beamed up at him and gave him a hug. "Thanks Alex. I'll be sure to write to you as soon as I get home."

"I'll be waiting then." I heard him say as I walked inside. I turned around to wave at him before heading up to the room where me and the other girls were staying at.

* * *

As I lay in my sleeping bag surrounded with all my other classmates, (girl classmates only of course) I couldn't help but think of what Alex had said earlier. About me having a habit of meeting new people.

I looked at the room's ceiling thoughtfully as I wondered…

_Who am I going to meet tomorrow then? _

* * *

**Somewhat foreshadowing over there at the end. Haha.**

**Well... Sorry for the late update?**

**I don't have a reason really for that other than I was feeling lazy. **

**And this chapter was just hard to write in general.**

**I had to rewrite the beginning like three times because I wasn't very happy with how it turned out.**

**I'm still not happy with how it turned out.**

**Longest chapter so far but I really don't think it was my best. I just kind of want to get through the "Victoria Island Road Trip" arc. **

**Yeah, this story is going to have _arcs._**

**I've got it all planned.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading this! Oh, and due to a mistake in one of the earlier chapters I just want to inform you all that how I'm doing things is that 100 mesos is 1USD. Not 1000 mesos is 1USD okay? Good?**

**Yosh.**

**And just in case you were wondering, all these people she's meeting actually do have a purpose to the plot. You'll find out how later.**

**Next time on Past The Screen: Kerning City~ (If that wasn't already obvious)**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 6/9/14**

**Finished Writing: 6/22/14 (That was a long wait I am sorry)**


	10. Making a Plan

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Ten

* * *

I kid you not, I woke up this morning feeling like absolute crap.

No seriously. I really did.

And of course, the first thought that came to my mind was, _damn I'm on my period aren't I?_

I pretty much spent all of five minutes laying there on the floor in my sleeping bag basically cursing my existence and most importantly, the world.

Then my brain finally decided to catch up to me and tell me, _you're seven years old you don't have your period yet._

Oh yeah, that's right.

But if I wasn't on my period then… Was I sick?

Cue loud coughing fit that wakes up everyone else in the room.

Oh no.

* * *

"This is so not fair!" The blonde haired she-devil whined loudly. And by that, I mean Macey. She forced me to drink medicine earlier. Yuck.

I listened to her halfheartedly as I poked at my stack of pancakes sadly, not even bothering to try to eat it. I didn't want a repeat of ten minutes before which was me running to the bathroom to throw up my intestines into a toilet. (Well maybe saying _intestines _was a bit of over exaggerating but it certainly did feel like I was throwing that up.)

"We couldn't hang up with you yesterday because you wouldn't wake up when we decided to go out and now you're sick!" Macey continued, throwing her hands up in the air from her place across the table from me.

Currently we were in _Thieving Inn _which was located in the dark and creepy area of Kerning City.

Now, contrary to what the name implied, none of our belongings were stolen so far and there was a definite lack of Thieves loitering around our immediate area.

However that didn't stop Ms. Illia from being a paranoid mother hen in the least bit.

Unlike how yesterday we were free to go wherever we wanted without a chaperon as long as we stayed within the Perion Town boundaries due to their very strict law system. (Something that I found about yesterday while I was trying to sneak my way back into the room. I failed by the way, but I didn't get in trouble because technically I was allowed to.) Ms. Illia had taken severe measures to make sure that no group was alone without a chaperon and that they would not venture off into 'bad places.'

Really, in my opinion it didn't really make much sense. Why even come here in the first place if she was worried about things like that? Not like I wish she hadn't decided to make this one of the stops on our little trip though.

This was Oz's birthplace after all, and the home of the _Thief_ class. I absolutely had to see this place with my own eyes.

But unfortunately…

"Hey Eli - Oh no! Ms. Illia, Eli's having a coughing fit again!"

Curses. Why have you forsaken me oh dear goddess? What have I ever done to receive this cruel punishment?

…

I should probably go back to sleep now.

* * *

The only good thing so far about being sick is that I get to sleep in a nice comfortable bed instead of on the floor in a sleeping bag. No one bothered me (because they were kind of out exploring the city) and so I had plenty of peace and quiet time to sort out my thoughts.

Because I really needed to do just that especially after what's been going on for the past few days.

Groaning, I reached over to the bed stand on my right that my backpack was on. After a bit of rummaging I smiled in glee as I found my notebook and pencil. Opening said notebook to the next free page I contemplated just how to start this whole 'sorting out my thoughts' off.

_Elissa's Thought Sorting. _I wrote down at the top of the page.

Wait, that's incorrect.

Quickly I erased the name and rewrote it.

_**Eliza's **__Thought Sorting_

Yeah that's definitely better. Okay so I've got a title now so…

_Three days ago I met Evan. He was eight years old and definitely not a dragon master. _

More detail would be better I think. What else could I add?

_He didn't have any friends before meeting me. He worships archers._

That's good. It may sound depressing at first but there's a bit of humor in the second part at least.

Now I suppose I should move on to the next one.

_Two days ago I met Oz. She was around fourteen I think. Not the Chief of Blaze Wizards yet but she seems like she's very proficient in fire magic. And…_

I frowned. Is it okay for me to write something like that in here?

Well, it's not like anyone is going to read it anyways.

_And because of her family consisting of Thieves she's discriminated by a good amount of people at Ellinia. What they say about her is wrong though. She's really nice. _

This is actually kind of relaxing. Writing down my thoughts I mean, not writing bad things about others.

_Yesterday I met Alexius. He's a warrior from Perion that got me involved in a high-speed car chase minus the car. But he's nice too. _

Okay, I've got some of my thoughts written down so what should I write next?

Goals maybe?

Yeah that sounds pretty reasonable.

Turning over the page I tapped my pencil on the blank paper as I thought of what to title this one. Should I just do a generic name or…?

Meh, I don't feel like being creative right now.

_Eliza's Goals_

So, I'm pretty sure goal number one is obvious.

_1\. Get back home. _

What's after that though? I suppose it's...

_2\. Write letters to all the new friends I've made_

Hm… sounds good so far. But goal number one seems pretty unlikely so far. An unrealistic goal huh?

Ugh, I'm already sick. Do I really need to make myself depressed too?

I ripped out my goal page and threw it in the trash bin. Setting goals would definitely make me depressed. It would only lead me to think about my main goal.

Pretty much the only one that mattered actually.

I sighed.

What did all those other people I've read about do when they were sent into one of their favorite stories anyways?

My situation wasn't really uncommon when it came down to fictional work. I've read a bunch of other stories where people end up in their favorite video games, animes, you name it.

I rested my chin on my hand as I thought about what they did when they were in that situation.

…

Damn it. All I can remember is them winging it.

"Ugh! Winging it isn't going to help with anything!" I cried out in frustration.

Oh shoot, that was kind of loud actually.

I waited anxiously for someone to come running into the room asking me what was wrong but surprisingly no one came. Which was a good thing of course. A very good thing. It would be bad if they started to think I was crazy.

Because I wasn't. Really.

Anyways, I turned my eyes back to my notebook and frowned.

There's gotta be something I can do-

Oh!

I smiled as a thought struck me.

A plan! I can make a plan!

What was I going to do in this world? I was here after all and I had some information about what might happen. (Because I wasn't very convinced that what I knew would be very accurate considering how different things seemed here.)

Also, most of the people in the stories didn't go back to their world until all the conflict was resolved. That could also apply to me as well.

I nodded to myself. Why didn't I realize that sooner?

People didn't usually just end up in different worlds for no reason. Usually it was for a reason.

They didn't just sit around moping and being depressed, wondering if they'd be able to return to their world. They went out and made sure that whatever conflict they knew would happen in the world would be resolved.

I probably wasn't brought here for no reason. Maybe… It was to help defeat the Black Mage?

It was definitely a possibility.

I grinned. Yes, now I have a purpose for being here. Now that I have a purpose that means no more moping.

Griping the pencil in my hand I wrote out the title of my plan.

_Eliza's Plan of Awesomeness to Defeat the Black Mage. _Absolutely awesome title right?

Although… where am I supposed to even start with that?

Huh, if I'm supposed to help defeat the Black Mage then… I'll probably need to get a lot stronger.

He'd kill me in one hit with the way I am now.

_1\. Become stronger._

What's next though? They never actually showed the Black Mage being defeated in the game. I didn't know how to do this!

I fell back on the bed and lifted my notebook in front of my face so that I could still see it.

I thought for a moment and sat back up. A bit too quickly if I may add. Vertigo doesn't feel good _at_ all,especially when you're sick.

Back on topic though, I suppose I might not know _exactly _how to defeat him but let's be logical here. How could the Black Mage possibly be defeated?

_2\. Bring the Heroes together._

_3\. Make sure the Heroes are really strong._

Hm, that sounds good so far. What else?

_4\. Recruit other strong people_

It's not like just the… five? Of them (not counting Shade) would be enough to defeat the Black Mage after all. And not to mention he also had all of his subordinates and such.

Hm… I've gotten this far so what else? What else is there that (probably) needs to be done-

"Make a sound and I'll kill you."

My thought process was abruptly put to a stop as a chilling voice in my ear threatened to kill me and the cold metal of a blade was pushed slightly into my neck. It wasn't enough to draw blood though, or at least, I think it wasn't.

And to think things had gone pretty well so far…

"I'm going to get up and steal all the money that's here and you're not going to make a single sound okay?" The voice, a female one at that, told me. Scratch that, it sounded more like an order actually.

I made an agreeing sound (or a near one) and I sat stock still as the perpetrator got up from behind me and walked over to one side of the room, presumably to get started with the stealing.

That's when the weirdest thing occurred to me in my mind.

And soon after that my brain decided to malfunction and blurt out that weird thing.

"Are you related to Oz?" I questioned almost curiously before my eyes widened and I slapped my hands over my mouth.

Oh dear goddess I'm going to die aren't I? She said not to make any noise and I _talked _for crying out loud! Just because she was a Thief and had red hair and green eyes like Oz didn't necessarily mean she was _related _to her and-

"How do you know that name?" The teen asked sharply, her green eyes flaring as she stared back at me.

I gaped. So it was true?

The teen, about maybe eighteen years old? Approached me with quick strides and glared daggers at me. "Answer the question."

Gulping I replied nervously. "I- I met a girl named Oz back in Ellinia. She told me that her family consisted mostly of Thieves and you looked kind of like her so I just thought that…" I trailed off anxiously as I glanced back at her.

"We might be related?" She rose an eyebrow at me and I swear that if this situation wasn't so terrifying I would have definitely pouted.

"Yes? My mind is uh… weird like that I guess?" I chanced a hesitant smile towards her and I watched her glare soften just a little. _Very _little.

Which was weird actually. Wasn't she supposed to be a heartless Thief? Or was that just me stereotyping things?

The redhead sat down across from me on the bed and sighed. "You know it's not supposed to be like this. You're supposed to be terrified at me and you're absolutely _not _supposed to smile at me."

I blinked. Did personality changes run in Oz's family perhaps?

"Sorry I guess. But I suppose you're not too bad and it's hard to be terrified at my friend's sister."

"How do you know I'm her sister? I didn't say anything about that." She cocked an eyebrow and I felt like rolling my eyes. It was obvious enough judging by her reaction.

Shrugging I said just that, albeit a bit more politely.

She stared at me for a bit before sighing again and rubbing a hand across her face. "Looks like I won't be getting any money from you. I won't be able to steal in good conscience at this point already."

Wait, how could stealing be done in good conscience anyways?

"Well if the person doesn't try to fight back I usually take it that they don't really care about the money-"

Oh crap I said that out loud?

"But also when I start interacting with my victim I start to feel bad for stealing with them. And you're also Oz's friend and you seem to be really nice which only adds to the guilt." The redhead finished.

I nodded in understanding before my eyes widened and I shook my hands in front of me. "I'm not that nice! Seriously!"

Because I wasn't. There's a difference from being nice and being polite I think. Not that I was either of them though.

She looked at me oddly. "If you're not nice then what are you?

"I like to think that I'm actually 'open minded.' " I pursued my lips and looked down at my closed fists. Yeah, that made sense. "I think that I don't judge people easily and that I'm willing to give anyone a chance. Sort of like, you're innocent until proven guilty except with being good and bad. However I think I'm personally more biased to thinking of you as a good person seeing as how you're Oz's sister."

I took in a deep breath. I was surprised a bit by how I was able to say that all at once.

My calm and rational moment was however interrupted by a fit of laughter. I looked up in surprise at the Thief clutching her stomach with tears in her eyes.

"That has to be the most _weirdest _thing I've seen someone of your age say." She choked in between laughs before calming down a bit. "Wait, how old are you anyways?"

I blinked. Yeah, personality changes definitely ran in her family.

"I'm seven." I said while tilting my head to the side a bit. Was what I said really that funny? I kind of thought it was more on the serious side. "What's your name by the way? Mines is Eliza."

The redhead grinned and extended her hand for handshake for which I gladly took. "The name's Charlotte."

I smiled before frowning. Why was I meeting so many new people? I usually didn't go out of my way to socialize with others. But then again it wasn't like I wasn't like I went up to them and asked to talk to them. They all came to me.

Charlotte looked at me curiously before she reached into her jacket and took out something that she very well shouldn't have.

"So since we're now sort of friends, or at least acquaintances do you mind telling me what this is?" She smirked as she flipped my notebook open and turned to the page with my plan on it.

The plan that had _Defeat the Black Mage_ on the title for crying out loud!

My eyes widened and I looked back to my lap that true enough did _not _have the notebook anymore and then to Charlotte's who now held said notebook in her palm.

How did she even take it without me noticing? How did I not notice it was gone sooner anyways?

Charlotte waved the notebook and called my name. "I'm waiting~"

I grimaced. Damn, I jinxed myself didn't I? Earlier I thought that no one was going to read it so the universe itself decided to go ahead and prove me wrong. Shoot.

"That's a plan I made." I stated as calmly as I could while trying my best to smile. Judging by the look on Charlotte's face I was pretty sure that I had failed horribly in doing both.

"I see that. But the thing is sweetie," She started off as she turned her attention away from me and to my notebook. I wasn't exactly sure if I should feel happy that her sharp eyes weren't on me anymore or panicked because she was actually reading the contents of the notebook. But really, who's to say she hadn't already read through it?

"Here in the title it says that it's your awesome plan to _defeat_ the Black Mage. I'm not too surprised that you know about the Black Mage but why would you need to defeat him? It's common knowledge that hundreds or so years ago the five Heroes sealed him away so why would you - a _seven-year old girl_ \- make a plan to defeat him?" Charlotte continued easily, looking at me curiously and I avoided looking in her eyes.

I remained silent. What else was I supposed to do after all?

The redhead clicked her tongue. "And that's not all though. Here in your _steps _it says to _bring the Heroes together_. Which doesn't make _any _sense to me considering how the Heroes are now sealed away in ice after they sealed away the Black Mage. Also, right after that step it states _make sure the Heroes are really strong_. That too doesn't make much sense. Even if they were released from the ice and awakened then why would you need to make sure they were really strong? They already were able to seal away the Black Mage once so logically they should be able to do it again but what you wrote here seems to say otherwise."

You know, maybe she decided not to rob me and become _friends _with me was all just to confront me about this. Get me to let my guard down and all. That would make a lot of sense actually.

"Still no comment huh?" She asked casually and I refrained from moving an inch. "But there's still so much to ask you about!" Charlotte grinned almost menacingly.

My head snapped up and I saw her flip back to the previous page. _Oh shoot._

"Right here on _this _page, your _Thought Sorting _page it talks about how this _Evan _boy is a _Dragon Master_. I've never heard about the term _Dragon Master _before so just what is it? The way you wrote it though implies however that you _know _that he will become one. How are you sure of this? And just to top it all off you also mention my sister, Oz." Her smile slips away and I flinch away from her stare.

I watched as Charlotte traced out the words herself with her finger as she read out the contents of the page. " '_Two days ago I met Oz. She was around fourteen I think. Not the Chief of Blaze Wizards yet but she seems like she's very proficient in fire magic.' _Here too you talk as if you know that she will one day become this so-called 'Chief of Blaze Wizards.' To add-on to that, you're not denying this or saying that this is just part of some fictional story you decided to come with out of boredom so just how do you know all these things?"

I gulped and couldn't help but flinch away from Charlotte's harsh glare.

"_How?_" The Thief repeated.

Avoiding eye contact I nervously stuttered out, "Y- You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

I glanced back to see the redhead's reaction and I saw her raise an eyebrow at me. "Try me."

My gaze went back to my lap and I found my thoughts swirling with questions.

Should I tell her the truth? Did I even have an option? What would happen if I told her the truth? What if I didn't?

I looked up at Charlotte and looked at her straight into her eyes. There I found myself becoming confused. I wasn't necessarily _perfect_ at reading people but… For some reason to me, it seemed like she was worried about something.

Worried about the Black Mage maybe? Or perhaps she was worried about her sister?

I took a deep breath.

"I know the future. Well, I suppose not the _entire _future but bits and pieces." I babbled as I looked at her directly. If I looked away no doubt she would think I was lying. "I'm not sure how to explain just _how _I know but I just do and I guess I wouldn't say that what I know _is _the future because I don't think thats set in stone or something like that and-" I paused as I saw Charlotte raise her hand up, palm facing me as she looked at me seriously.

"Basically you're telling me you know what could _possibly _be the future?" She summarized for me and I nodded fervently. "But you can't tell me how you know that it's the possible future?" At this I nodded a bit less enthusiastically.

I really hope she didn't push me for that. I didn't even know where to _start _with explaining how this world was only a game back in my world. Heck, I didn't even know a lot of things like _how _I got into this world in the first place!

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Charlotte snap her fingers to get my attention. I clenched my fists as I waited for her to speak. What she said however made me want to smile despite this rather bad situation.

"Is my sister safe in this possible future?" Charlotte questioned.

Ha, so she was worried about her sister. That was nice of her. But then again, it seemed like she only cared about Oz and pretty much disregarded the rest of the world in the general.

I'm pretty sure a normal person would ask _will the world be saved in the possible future? _Or probably something along those lines and _then _ask about their sister/family members or friends.

I shook my head to rid myself of my thoughts but then I frantically started talking as I saw Charlotte tense up from her spot across of me.

"Wait no! I wasn't shaking my head to say that Oz wasn't safe in the future! I was trying to clear up my thoughts. I'm not sure actually, I'm trying to think about it." I told her and I watched as the redhead seemed to relax just a tiny bit.

Bringing up my knees so that I could rest my head against them I thought about what I knew about Oz from the game. She was fine right? Well, everyone was pretty much fine in MapleStory. It was a happy game, no tragedy there. But then again in the future didn't the Black Mage corrupt Oz along with the other Chiefs plus Cygnus?

Wait a second was that even real though?

My mind went back to the MapleStory wikia article on the Black Mage I read before. It said that according to Shinsoo it was only a dream created by the Black Mage. That mean that Oz was fine right? Not corrupted meaning not evil at all.

I nodded to myself and looked up to see Charlotte's almost anxious face.

Allowing myself a small smile despite the situation I relayed my thoughts to Charlotte in a more… organized way.

"I wasn't sure if she was okay because the future is rather… complicated. It's like… there's a lot of things happening and I wasn't sure what was real or fake but yes, Oz is fine. If the real future turns out like what I know so far then I can reassure you that she is happy. Quite cheerful actually." I added the last part as an afterthought after I contemplated Oz's wellbeing in the future.

Yes, the Oz from the future, (the present actually when concerning my knowledge) was in fact cheerful. I remember making a Blaze Wizard and she was a pretty upbeat and happy Job Instructor.

I watched as Charlotte let out a relieved sigh. "That's good. But I suppose you can't tell me anything about mines or the rest of my family's future?"

I shook my head and frowned slightly but Charlotte just let out a small laugh.

"It's good that at least Oz is going to be okay. But I'm sure that the only reason why you know that is because she's going to play a part in this whole _Defeat the Black Mage _thing that's supposedly going to happen in the future." She stated as she glanced over at me. I nodded in confirmation.

"She does play a part but I'm not sure about you or the rest of your family…" I trailed off uneasily. "Like I said I only know a bit but I saw nothing about you. Well, I didn't even know Oz had any siblings actually."

Charlotte rested her chin in her palm as she seemed to contemplate this. "That must mean she doesn't play too big of a part right?" She asked but before I could respond she continued. "That's good to know."

I watched curiously as she got up from the bed and walked over to the open window she must have come through. A glance back at where she had sat earlier revealed that she left my notebook on the bed.

"It sucks to know that the Black Mage is going to come back. But since you seem to have a general idea on how to defeat him so I don't really care. That seems to be awhile from now anyways." She said as she stepped outside the window. "Also, mines is right underneath my sis'!"

And with that mysterious remark Charlotte vanished, going back into the city.

For about a minute or so I sat there in my bed and wondered what she meant by that until it struck me.

Did she really…?

I reached over to grab the notebook and flipped to the page containing Oz's address. True to her word, what looked to be the Thief's address was written neatly underneath the Magician's one.

Ah, looks like I've made another friend. One who was very protective of her sister to boot.

At least she seemed like she wasn't going to tell anyone about my 'knowledge about the possible future.' That would've been a disaster.

With those thoughts remaining in my head I put my pencil back into my bag and shoved my notebook under my shirt. It's better to be safe than sorry after all.

Resting my head back on my pillow I moved all of my complicated thoughts back into the back of my mind into a very discreet corner. I'd think about them later. I was tired at the moment.

Then a thought struck me.

I didn't cough or sneeze at all during that entire conversation. Was I not sick anymore?

"Achoo!"

Cue coughing fit followed by a sneezing fit.

Nope, it hadn't passed at all. But thank the goddess that it seemed to be kept at bay at that time. It would've really ruined the mood if I fell into a coughing/sneezing fit while talking to Charlotte.

But nevermind that, it's time for me to sleep.

Yes. Sleep sounded very good right now.

* * *

**Hey guys here's the update. **

**This chapter was kind of more serious than the previous ones. I hope it seems okay to you guys.**

**I really don't like this chapter. I don't think it likes me either. This was a pain to edit for some reason, I'm not sure why but it just was. **

****On a happier note, I'm going to try to aim at once a week updates so maybe every Sunday then? However I make no promises.****

**The next chapter might be up sooner than a week though. I'm very excited to write it. :)**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Lith Harbor!**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 6/23/14**

**Finished Writing: 6/30/14 **


	11. Hide and Seek My Secrets

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Eleven

* * *

I kicked my legs, enjoying the feel of the water splashing beneath my feet.

My cold was mostly gone thanks to the much more advanced medicine here in Maple World. At the moment I was enjoying the peace and quiet down by one of Lith Harbor smaller ports.

The sky was clear of any clouds and the heat of the sun on my back was balanced out by the cool wind breeze. I shivered a little as the cold wind came into contact with my bare arms and legs.

It was near the end of February so naturally it was still a bit cold out. Just why I decided to wear a sleeveless shirt and shorts seemed lost to me at the moment.

My bright purple hair had been styled in a simple braid courtesy of Macey and was currently tucked into a denim blue cap courtesy of Luke.

Apparently my striking hair was an easy give away when playing _hide and seek_. That didn't stop the two of them from finding me very quickly though.

"Ah ha! Found you Eli!"

I didn't bother turning around to greet my blonde friend and instead lifted up my legs up from the water. After letting most of the water drip down back to the ocean I sat cross-legged facing the horizon while waiting for Macey to reach me.

"Hey." I greeted as she took a seat besides me. "How did you find me so fast? Was this another sucky hiding spot?"

Macey grinned. "Nope, but it would've been even better if there were more people around for you to blend in with."

"Okay, that was the answer to the second question so how about the first one?" She said it herself that this was a good hiding place so how?

The blonde paused for a second before looking down at the water almost sadly. Her brown eyes seemed duller and her posture became slumped.

"You... You might not remember this but you really loved the ocean despite us living nowhere near it. You always liked to look at pictures of the sea or actually, any large body of water." At this her smile fell just a bit and I realized that she might not be as happy as she seemed to be. I frowned.

How would I have felt if I were in her position? Having my best friend lose all of her memories? I know I would've felt heartbroken if Riley couldn't remember me anymore. She was the one I went to for almost all my problems. I wasn't to close to my parents and she was the only one I knew for sure wouldn't judge me no matter what.

But… That wasn't really the situation she was dealing with though, although she didn't know that at all. Her best friend didn't lose her memories, her best friend became an entirely different person in all ways except for looks.

The girl known as Eliza Hertsh was gone, from this world at least. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that she was in fact back in my body in my world.

Right now I, Elissa Saris was just using Eliza's name and body to survive in this world. It was kind of messed up now that I think about it.

I wonder what would've happened if I had pressed _cancel _on that day when that text box opened up while I was just playing MapleStory. Would I have shrugged off the weird _soul warping _thing as a bug and continued on with my life as a normal middle school student?

Probably.

Do I regret doing that though?

Not necessarily. I was brought here for a reason. That was something I was entirely sure about. The only thing I regret would probably be taking over Eliza's life. It wasn't fair for her. But at the same time… Life wasn't fair. At least if it turns out that she really is living as me back in my world then things would kind of balance out. She lives out my life and I live out hers.

Hm, I wonder if this is the start of my fall into insanity because that didn't sound right _at all_.

Sigh.

* * *

"_Finally! _I can't believe it took me so long just to find you!"

The sound of high-pitched laughter rang in my ears and I watched as Macey jumped down from the tree. She pat me on the back and congratulated me on being able to find her.

"You must be really good at hiding huh, Mace?" I grinned as we headed towards the town center, where our Inn was located.

Macey grinned back. "Nah, I think you just suck at finding people. You actually walked right past me twice you know."

So far the three of us have spent most of our time in Lith Harbor playing hide and seek. Not only were we able to have fun while doing so but we were also able to explore the town too. The only downside was that basically the entire town was our playing field meaning that it took a long time to find each other. Thankfully though we all agreed to meet back at the Inn we were staying at if thirty minutes have passed and the ones hiding weren't found yet.

This was a very good rule since I in particularly wasn't the most observant as kindly pointed out by Macey.

"Yeah I know I suck. Let's just head to the Inn already. It's almost been thirty minutes anyways."

The blonde nodded and we spent the walk there in comfortable silence. I wasn't much for small talk and for some reason Macey seemed kind of different today. It was like she was sad… But that didn't make any sense. Why would she be sad in the first place? Did she feel guilty for yesterday? I know I was kind of upset about missing the opportunity to explore Kerning City but it's not like she could have helped it.

As we walked towards the Inn I contemplated this. I was so deep in thought that I didn't realize we were there and so I almost walked right into the door. _Almost. _Thankfully Macey stopped me right when I was inches away from it.

"Thanks Mace. That was a close one." I beamed at her as she opened the door for me. We both walked inside and I took a quick look around the lobby for green eyes and messy black hair.

"Not here yet, huh." I mumbled to myself after spotting no one with said appearance. Macey hummed in agreement and headed over to the fireplace. She sat cross-legged in front of it and pulled her knees up to rest her chin on them.

I sighed and walked over to her, taking a seat adjacent from her. "You okay? You seem kind of down."

She frowned. "It's nothing really… I just-" She paused and shook her head. "We're friends right?"

I blinked and gave her a smile. "Yeah, of course."

"_Best _friends?"

My smile fell a bit. I was thankful that she wasn't looking at me right now, choosing instead to stare into the flames in front of us.

"I don't really know about that one. I've only known you for about a week now and I just… don't want to go around throwing the _best friend_ title to just anyone." I told her honestly, keeping my voice low. I didn't want to lie to Macey, even though telling the truth would no doubt hurt her.

I sucked at lying anyways. She would no doubt have been able to see through me if I tried.

The sound of sniffles broke me from my thoughts and I turned in slight horror to see Macey with tears in her eyes. _Oh no._

"Wha- I'm _so _sorry. I didn't mean it like that- _I mean I did sort of _\- but nicer? I didn't mean to make you cry and I'm sorry but I figured you would've wanted me to be honest and-"

Macey's quiet giggles interrupted my rapid-fire talk. She was covering her mouth with her hand, trying her best to smother them. After a couple of seconds she settled with giving me a small smile.

"Yeah, I like honesty. I don't like being lied to, even if it's to protect my feelings." The blonde stood up and stretched. "So Eliza, I told you this before when we first met but since you don't remember that…"

Macey reached down and grabbed my hand, helping me up. She then took the said hands and held it in between both of hers. "Don't lie to me. Even if it's to protect me, or to spare my feelings. Promise me that okay?"

I froze. My entire body going cold.

…

I couldn't promise that. Not in good conscience at least. Promising her that basically meant no secrets, even though she didn't really word it like that.

And I was keeping secrets. Or well, _a _secret. A big one at that.

Seconds ticked by and I watched as Macey's expression became confused. What was I supposed to do? Do I tell her I _can't_ promise her that? But if I did that… Then what would happen to our friendship? I highly doubted we'd still be able to be friends after that.

So do I tell her I _can _promise that? But that would be a lie wouldn't it? It went against the promise in the first place unless…

I tell her about it. About _everything_. Elissa. MapleStory. The like.

But that was just _so much _information. Was being Macey's friend really worth all the explaining all of it? Would she even believe me if I told her?

"Eli?" Macey's soft voice lined with worry barely registered in my mind and I took the time to really look at her. Long blonde hair and large brown eyes, her choice of clothes showed off how undeniably girly she was. Pink and white, flowing skirts and strappy sandals. She was the one who (along with Luke) came to visit me after hearing about my amnesia. Even though I had no idea who she was she still treated me like a friend. It wasn't forced or anything either. It was as if being friends with me was the most natural thing in the world.

Her patience seemed almost endless with how she dealt with explaining to me things that were thought to be common knowledge. Not once did she get annoyed by my many questions about whatever crossed my mind, always answering them with a smile. She was always willing to lend a helping hand. But that didn't mean she was a pushover either.

Although both her and Luke seemed to be my closest friends I couldn't help but think that the bond between Eliza (the real one) and Macey must have been really strong.

It was a bond that I didn't want to break at all.

"Macey." At the sound of her name being called I could feel her tense slightly. Her hands tightening around the sole hand she held in her grip.

"I can't promise that-" She wilted. "At least not yet." I wiggled my hand out of her two and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards the second floor of the Inn where the rooms were located.

Macey for the most part seemed stuck in shock, simply blinking and following along before she muttered a confused sound, _huh?_

While heading up the stairs I caught a glimpse of Ms. Illia entering the lobby and then I realized something.

"Shoot." I muttered under my breath and paused in my step, causing Macey to bump right into me.

I waved off my friend's apologies and instead chose to call out to our teacher. "Ms. Illia! Me and Macey are going to have some girl talk so if you see Luke tell him to just wait in the lobby okay?" And without waiting for her reply I continued towards the room we were staying at, making sure that Macey followed behind me.

After finally reaching the room I dragged Macey towards the middle of the room. "Sit" I told her and after doing so I plopped down on the floor opposite from her.

Just how was I supposed to do this anyways? Where do I even start?

"Um, Eli?"

I glanced at Macey's confused face and sighed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you're confused but don't worry I'll explain everything." I reassured her. She nodded and adjusted her sitting position to something more comfortable. She could probably tell that we'd be here for a while.

Tapping my fingers on the soft carpet of the room I gave another sigh. "I said earlier that I couldn't promise not telling you any lies, at least not yet anyways. The reason for that is because I'm keeping a big secret from you and to me at least, that's the same thing as lying to you."

Macey's brows furrowed and her lips curved downward into a slight frown.

"A big secret?" She repeated.

I nodded. "Yes. But I'm going to tell you everything now. I know what I'm about to say is going to be hard to believe but you have to trust me when I say that everything I say is true okay?"

Macey smiled. "Okay. I trust you Eli."

"That right there is part of the problem." I grimaced. "I guess I should start by telling you that I'm not who I think I am. My name is actually Elissa Saris and-"

* * *

A quick glance at the sole clock in the room showed that it's been about an hour. I scratched my cheek absently. That took a really long time, a lot longer than I expected really.

At least Macey didn't interrupt me too much during my explanation asides from simple clarification questions.

Speaking of the blonde she was staring at the carpet with much concentration. She seemed to be taking the fact that some random stranger is in her friend's body rather well in my book.

That was good. Now I didn't really feel that bad about letting that load off my shoulder. A load I had no idea existed too.

I grinned as I stared up at the room's ceiling. My body felt so light at the moment, really at peace. No more stress or worries. It was probably only temporary but the relief was easily welcomed-

"It all makes sense now."

My head snapped to look at her, not really understanding what I had just heard. Of all the things I thought she would say after hearing my explanation about the _soul warping _and _this world is actually a game in my world _hearing that 'it all makes sense now' was definitely not one of them. Not even close.

"Mind elaborating on that?" I asked her. Her expression morphed into slight confusion.

"Elaborating?" She mimicked the word as if testing it. I almost face-palmed. Why'd I have to use a complicated word like that anyways?

"I meant explain." I amended.

"Oh, I see." Macey nodded. "Well it's just that your personality is pretty different from Eliza's. I read somewhere that people usually have the same personality even after having amnesia. Also, you never spoke about regaining any memories which I thought was kind of strange actually. Nothing seemed familiar to you either."

I blinked and chuckled. "I was a pretty bad actor wasn't I?"

"Very bad. Now that I think about it though… I can't believe I didn't realize you were a completely different person. You didn't even ask anything about your life. You weren't fazed at all about 'losing your memory.' I suppose I can understand myself not realizing it. I'm seven. But how did no one else figure it out?" She frowned and rested her cheek on her palm.

Raising my eyebrow at her I spoke my thoughts on the matter. "Well I don't think _anyone _would immediately jump to the conclusion that I was a different person. They would have had no reason to. My situation is a rather uncommon one after all."

"I don't think it's so much uncommon as it is completely non-existent save for you."

Grinning I fell back on the soft carpet. "You have no idea how much of a relief it is to finally get that off my shoulders."

From the corner of my eye I saw Macey do the same. "Mm that's good… But I still feel like you're hiding something."

I pouted and rolled over on to my stomach. "You were the one who said you didn't want to hear about the possible future."

At the point of my explanation where I started talking about how MapleStory was a game and I told her that it was based in the future maybe a few years from now, Macey made it in clear terms that she didn't want to know anything about that. She claimed that it would ruin the surprise.

I think she was maybe scared to know about the future though. It's not like I could blame her.

We laid there for a few minutes in comfortable silence. Just enjoying each other's company. That however was all by some very loud and persistent knocking.

"It's been like forever already! Are you two done with your _girl talk _yet?" The sound of Luke's voice rang clear through the wooden door. I couldn't help but giggle a bit. He said the word _girl talk _like it was a disease. I could almost imagine the scrunched up look on his face.

"Almost done Luke! We'll be down in a minute!" I yelled and slowly picked myself up from the floor.

The sound of a muffled _hurry up! _followed soon after and if I listened close enough I could hear the sound of his footsteps as they soon faded away.

Making my way towards the door I raised my eyebrow when Macey's sudden hold on my arm stopped me.

"Something wrong?"

"Not really…" She avoided eye contact and seemed to struggle with words for a moment. I waited patiently for what she wanted to say. After taking a deep breath she continued. "Thanks for telling me the truth Elissa. On your own especially. I- I had planned to confront you because I could tell you were hiding something from me. I didn't know what it was but I'm glad you told me. That you trust me even though you've only known me for a little while."

Blinking I gave my mind some time to process the information. "Is that why you seemed kind of sad earlier?"

Macey snapped her head to look at me. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly open in shock.

"You could tell?"

I grinned. "No offense, but you're not really the best actor. Or well, actress."

Macey pouted and shoved me in the arm. "Like you're one to talk."

Smiling I opened the door, stepping into the hallway with her right behind me.

"I suppose so. But you know, just call me Eli. Cause calling me Elissa might cause some problems…" I trailed off slightly.

"Yes of course. Eli." Macey grinned, but her smile fell and I watched as she bit her lip and looked at me in all seriousness. "Do you… When do you think you'll be able to go back to your own world?"

The _and Eliza can come back to this one _was left unsaid. But I heard it all the same.

"It's not that I don't like you or anything but…"

I smiled reassuringly. "I know. I know. In answer to your questions though… I'm not sure." _If I can actually go back to my world. _

That part was left unsaid, however I highly doubted she caught that.

"I see. Well, I'm sure we'll find someway. I'll help you!" Macey grinned and linked her fingers behind her back, turning away from me and towards the staircase. "Are you planning on telling Luke this?"

I thought about it for a moment. "No… At least not yet. I don't really feel like explaining all of that again. And I feel like it'll take a lot longer. I think he'd ask way too many questions and have me repeat things over and over."

"Ha, yeah that sounds like Luke alright." Macey laughed. "Well let's go then. It's not good to keep him waiting after all." And with that she headed down the staircase with me following shortly afterwards.

Looks like it's time to fall into my 'Eliza act.' Although apparently it's very sucky but that doesn't matter because hey, I tried and that's all that matters right?

* * *

This was it. The end of my one week trip around Victoria Island.

I sighed and rested my head on the window of the bus. Currently we were on our way back to Edelstein Elementary. Almost the entire class plus the chaperons were asleep.

And I was kind of bored.

Closing my eyes I recalled the events that occurred yesterday.

After telling Macey my big secret and meeting up with Luke in the Lobby we all headed towards the market. There we spent the rest of the afternoon going around window shopping mostly but also sometimes buying some stuff.

For example I was finally able to get the twins' their souvenirs. (Thank the goddess for that because if I didn't get them there then that'd mean no souvenirs for them at all.)

I got Alishar a snow globe with a small orange cat sitting in the middle of it. The stand having been inscribed with the words _Above The Treetops._ Zeno on the other hand was a bit harder to find a souvenir for and so I settled with a journal (_not _a diary contrary to what Luke said it was) with an overall _Victoria Island _theme. The many pages actually had borders featuring pictures describing the different cities on the island.

Upon returning to the Inn and eating a bunch of food during dinner I retreated to the room to get some sleep. I was pretty tired after all the running around we did when shopping. Weirdly enough Luke and Macey didn't seem tired in the least bit and stuck around after dinner playing with our other classmates.

Judging by how pretty much everyone else besides me in the bus was asleep I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that they stayed up pretty late. It was pretty obvious seeing as how not even the few hours or so on the plane ride on the way here was enough sleep for them.

I opened my eyes and frowned. Nope, the school wasn't in sight yet.

Sighing I leaned back in my seat more. I hoped that recalling the past day's events would have occupied more of my time.

Maybe I should just take a page out of the other's book and get some sleep…

* * *

"_We're a team right?"_

What the…

"_Friends stick together. That's what you said isn't it?"_

Me? Wait but-

"_I trust you, so don't make me regret it."_

I don't really…

"_I suppose I can understand why they stick around now."_

"_You… Thank you."_

Who's talking to me?

* * *

"-up Eli! Jeez, I can't believe you fell asleep on the bus!"

I blinked my eyes open tiredly. Huh?

Slowly my eyes adjusted and I found myself looking up at a slightly annoyed Macey with her hands on her hips. Then I processed what she had just said.

"Like you're one to talk! You were asleep too!" I said indignantly. She waved her hands before reaching towards me and pulling me up by the wrist and dragging me towards the exit of the bus.

"But unlike you I have an excuse. I was up late last night. _You _on the other hand went to bed so early!" She stated matter-of-factly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Just a few steps away from the exit of the bus Macey paused in her step. Her grip on my wrist tightened and a frown made it's way on to my face.

"Macey?"

The person in question turned to face me. "Are you going to be alright?" Her eyes were sad, and her lips were tugged slightly downward.

At first I just stared at her in confusion. What did she mean? Of course I was going to be all right. Why wouldn't I be-?

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back sweetie!"

"I've missed you guys so much!"

"It's good to be home!"

_Home._

Home was… It wasn't even miles away. It was _worlds _away.

…

Now I know why Macey asked that question.

I tried to smile. "Yeah I'll be fine." Because I would be. Really.

Taking a step outside of the bus I was immediately ambushed by a head of long black hair which was soon followed by curly purple hair.

Both Alishar and Zeno looked up at me with grins, their eyes sparkling.

"Welcome back home Eli!" They cheered simultaneously, living up to their status as twins.

"Glad to be back." I managed weakly, not feeling too well all of a sudden.

Alishar frowned and Zeno reached up to check my forehead. "You're kind of warm… Hey sis are you okay-"

And then I promptly threw up and both their shoes.

Shit. I knew I shouldn't have eaten that airplane food.

* * *

**It's done. Finally done. I'm so sorry for how long this took. **

**I was really looking forward to writing this but I got writers block and wasn't really sure how to write it at first.**

**Anyways, now we're finally done with the 'Victoria Island Road Trip' arc! Yay!**

**This was kind of rushed though. Towards the end of it mostly. I'm actually going to camp tomorrow so I wanted to make sure to get this chapter out before then.**

**Done editing this. Yes! **

**Oh and by the way 'Above the Treetops' which is the inscription on Alishar's gift is actually the name of the bgm for Lith Harbor. :)**

**I hope it's okay though. And makes sense. Sigh. **

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Secret. I'm not telling. Sorry~**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 7/2/14**

**Finished Writing: 7/17/14 (Ack. Sorry. So sorry it took this long.)**


	12. Letters From You To Me

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Twelve

* * *

So much time has passed since then. Since I first arrived into this world, the Maple World.

Looking into the mirror I couldn't help but smile sadly at how I was completely at ease with my reflection. I could distinctly remember a time where I'd always flinch, even if it was only a little bit, at my reflection because it was just so _wrong_.

I placed my hand on the mirror and watched as my reflection did the same.

No longer was my vibrant purple hair the extremely long and unmanageable length it was before. It was now reaching just past my shoulders. My blue eyes were still bright, albeit a bit tired. But that was easily explained by the fact that-

"Hurry up sis I want to use the bathroom too! Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can spend like an hour in there!"

The loud and slightly annoyed voice of my little sister Alishar (nicknamed _Ali_) rang clear through the door and I couldn't help but sigh. Looking away from the mirror I took a step off the stool I had placed in front of the sink before and wiped my hands on the hand towel near said sink.

Taking one glance back at the mirror I opened the door, smiling at the sight of Ali tapping her foot impatiently in front of it. Her straight black hair was pulled into a high pony tail and her blue eyes reflected clear annoyance.

I stepped through the doorway and out of Ali's way and she gave me a small wave as she closed the door of the bathroom. Shoving my hands into my jeans pockets I made my way to the living room.

That was when I fully registered my little sister's words.

A smile started to form on my lips. Ah yes, that's right. Today was my birthday.

By that I don't just mean _Eliza's _birthday but _Elissa's _too. It was really weird how our birthdays were both on the same day, July 19th. But it at least made keeping track of my age (both of them) a lot easier.

Today I was now officially a ten year old, physically at least. Mentally I was seventeen. I certainly didn't feel like a seventeen year old though.

"Did something happen sis?"

I turned to face my little brother and Ali's twin, Zeno who was seated at the kitchen table. Over the past two and a half years or so he didn't change much like Ali. He still had the same curly purple hair and grey eyes. But asides from looks I could admit that he was certainly doing a lot better in the talking department.

At least he didn't look like he wanted to cry when he was introduced to strangers anymore.

"Why do you think something's wrong shortie?" I grinned as I took the seat across from him. I held back a laugh as he scowled at me.

Zeno crossed his arms. "Don't call me shortie! I'll grow taller than Ali and you _both _just you wait!"

A chuckle managed to escape me. Zeno was actually pretty touchy when it came to his height after Luke pointed out to him (with thinly veiled horror) a couple of months ago that Ali was taller than him by a few inches even though they were twins.

"I'm sure you will Zeno but let's not glare at your sister like that. It's her birthday after all."

Mom smiled at the both of us and we settled down immediately. She then placed our plates filled with breakfast in front of us and we promptly dug in.

"I've made my special chocolate chip pancakes since today is such a special occasion. Do you like them?"

I grinned, my mouth stuffed with said pancakes. "Of course, they're the best!"

"_Gross_, don't talk with your mouth full sis!"

Rolling my eyes I swallowed. "There, better now?"

Zeno opened his mouth to retort when a high pitched shriek coming from the hallway made him pause.

"You're eating mom's chocolate chip pancakes without me!" Ali yelled as she ran over to the table and glared daggers at both me and Zeno.

I tried to subtly move my plate away from her and received a slight smack to my hand for my efforts. I looked up to see mom looking at me disapprovingly and I gave a soft sigh before moving my plate back to its original position. Ali took the opportunity and grabbed a few pieces off of my plate and shoving them into her mouth.

"This is delicious!" She exclaimed with her mouth full. I could faintly hear Zeno mumbling in the background _no one but me has table manners. _

Mom took that time to shuffle Ali to her own seat at the table right next to Zeno and laid out her own plate in front of her with its own stack of chocolate chip pancakes along with a glass of orange juice.

Breakfast continued to be a relaxing affair. Mom had already ate earlier with dad before he left to go to the post office but was content to stay with us while we ate. We talked about whatever came to our minds and it was a relatively normal breakfast (besides when Ali decided to go into incredible detail about how last night she dreamed about talking animals taking her to their home on the moon) despite it being my birthday and after finishing up and helping mom wash the dishes I retreated to my bedroom under the pretense of working on a summer assignment. Which was a half-truth considering the fact that I did sit at my desk for about five minutes solving a couple of math problems before giving up for the moment and laying on my bed to think.

I never liked making a big deal about it. My birthday I mean. It made me think of just how long I'd been in this world. And how the days where I completely forgot about the other one, the one I was originally from, were still increasing rapidly.

It's not like I hadn't been trying to find a way to get back. Because I had, along with Macey of course. As soon as we got back from that week long road trip around Victoria Island (after that horrible incident when I threw up on the twins' shoes though) she had whisked me off to Edelstein's library and so began our lovely research on how to get me back to my world. (And hopefully Eliza to this world.)

It has been around two and a half years though. We've already read majority of the library. Well, not necessarily _we_ since I did most of the reading. Macey was designated the task of finding all the books relating to my situation for me since I was terrible at navigating the library's directory, and she wasn't as good a reader as me anyways.

Although we hadn't found anything at that library Macey remained optimistic citing the fact that there were libraries all around the world. She had hopes that once we turned twelve (the age requirement to start learning the basics of any Adventurer class) we could head back to Victoria island and train for a couple of months before heading out to scour various libraries for any information that could potentially be used to help send me back.

I wasn't too sure of her idea though. For one thing that meant that she would miss out on her education which might be harmful for her future. I also felt kind of bad for getting her involved now. She was working so hard and I just… I was starting to lose motivation.

I was getting used to this world. And that in itself was kind of scary…

"I'm back!"

The sound of dad's voice carried over from the front door to my bedroom which was a testament to how loud he could be when he wanted to. I sat up from my bed and swung my legs over the edge before hopping off, silently cursing my still short legs and my overall still-too-short-for-my-liking height.

Walking as fast as my short legs would take me (which wasn't very fast actually) I headed over to the living room to see my dad being ambushed by the twins with my mom sitting on a recliner not too far from them with a slight smile on her face. The four of them looked up at me as I walked over and I watched the twins break out into wide grins as they both reached for the envelopes clutched in my dad's hands.

Although normally my letters were usually sent straight to my family's mailbox but since today was my birthday, said letters usually came with gifts. And by gifts I mean boxes that were way too big to fit in our tiny mailbox. Due to that, dad (or mom) would have to go to the post office to pick up the letters along with the gifts.

It looks like dad already put away the gifts though. Shoot, I was looking forward to opening them already.

"Look Eli! Dad's got your letters- Hey come on I want to give them to sis!" Ali told me as she jumped, extending her arm upwards to try and grab said letters from dad's hands.

Zeno however was trying a more unique strategy and had jumped from the sofa and on to dad's back causing him to bend over just barely enough for Ali to snatch the couple of letters from his hands. Then as Ali cheered happily at finally reaching her objective he took the chance to tackle her and get some letters for himself.

I tried not to wince at the slight wrinkles I could see starting to form on them and mom took that opportunity to break up the slight chaos that was occurring in our living room.

"That's enough you two. You're going to ruin the letters that Eli's friends sent her. Come on, hand it over to her." Mom reprimanded and the twins both handed over the letters they had in their grasp, looking thoroughly chastised and a bit guilty as they too noticed the wrinkles forming on the envelopes.

I beamed at the two, hoping to ease their guilt. "Thanks you too. And don't worry about it okay? It's just a few wrinkles." I turned around to the direction of my bedroom and raised the hand holding the envelopes in the air. "I'm going to read these in my room okay?"

"Okay sweetie. Just make sure you're ready at eleven. We're going out for lunch for your birthday remember?"

I smiled. "Yeah of course."

Upon reaching my bedroom I grabbed a medium-sized container on my desk and then proceeded to flop on to my bed.

Placing the container a bit away from me I spread out the letters I got from the twins.

There were four in total. One from each of the friends I made during the road trip two and a half or so years ago.

Picking up the one closest to me I couldn't help but smile softly.

It was impossible not to recognize that handwriting not to mention the fact that his own name and address was written on the top left of the envelope.

Carefully opening up the letter I opened up the folded paper and started reading.

_Dear Eli,_

_Happy birthday! I hope you like the gift I sent you. Not much has happened since the last letter I sent you. Well, Utah's going out with that girl… I think her name was Camila. Took them long enough. She's okay I guess. She's nice to me and she's a pretty good cook. Mom and dad love her. _

_You're probably getting kind of mad right now though aren't you? You don't like when I talk about others in my letters. I think I remember you writing me back something like 'Stop talking about other people I want to know what's going on in your life dummy.' _

_So I'll try to think of something so give me a second._

_I fell out of a tree the other day. It hurt. I think I sprained my left arm or something. It's a good thing I'm right handed. Now before you start worrying and all that stuff I'm fine. Mom and dad took me to see a doctor and he said that it'll heal just fine in a few weeks as long as I don't use it too much. Thanks to that I'm relieved of doing any farm work whatsoever until it heals. _

_I was really happy at first, but now I'm really bored so hurry up and send me back a letter okay? _

_Hope you have an awesome birthday. I really wish I could see your face when you open up your present from me. Let's just say this is payback for that dragon mask you got me for my birthday okay? I'm not saying that I didn't like it. It's very nice to look at but it's kind of big for me to wear and I still don't know how I'm supposed to use it. When will I ever need a dragon mask? _

_I know I already asked that and this question too but since you never answered me last time I'll ask it again. Where did you even get it anyways?_

_I have my doubts that you'll actually answer them but I guess after the two or something years I've known you I'm just used to your vague (I learned that word from you remember?) and mysterious answers. And don't worry, I haven't had any weird dreams lately and I try not to talk to creepy strangers. Goddess only knows why you always have to bring that up during your letters. _

_Utah's pestering me for help with Camila. I think they got into a fight. Ugh. I guess I'll have to end my letter now. Write back to me ASAP, I don't think I can handle dealing with their drama. _

_Evan. _

Wow. I couldn't help but laugh a little. It really amazes me sometimes how different Evan is now compared to his first few letters. Unfortunately, something that also amazes me is how Evan's handwriting hasn't changed much either.

Reaching out for the container I had placed away from me earlier I opened it to see the multitude of letters from my 'Victoria Island Friends' (V.I.F for short) as the twins decided to call them. Reaching towards the very bottom of the container I took out the very first letter I had received upon coming to this world.

I had found it sitting on my desk when I had gotten home from the road trip a few years ago.

_Dear Eliza,_

_Uh, hi. How are you? I'm doing fine. And look, I made sure to mail this letter early so that it would definitely get to your home before you came back. _

_I hope the rest of your trip went okay. I highly doubt that you actually played it safe and followed the rules your teacher made though. _

_Tell me about the adventures you had in the other towns okay? I want to hear all about it._

_So… bye for now I guess. _

_Evan. _

Another fit of laughter escaped me. His first letter just… It sounds really awkward. And it's so short too.

Ah, the memories.

I put the letter back into its envelope and placed it back in its place at the bottom of the container.

Time to read the other letters.

Picking up one of the three left at random I raised an eyebrow at seeing handwriting that looked only maybe a _little bit _neater than Evan's.

Much like Evan's letter I opened it up carefully and started to read.

_Yo Eli!_

_Happy birthday! You better like my present okay? I made it myself so there's a lot of thought and stuff put into it. _

_And thanks so much for the advice for my interview for that group I was scouted for. I passed it with flying colors! They said that I'll be able to start training with them really soon. Unfortunately, it turns out that I'll have to move out of my current place. The group I'm joining is based quite a bit away from Perion (can't tell you where exactly though sorry but I assure you it's nowhere shady) so I'm going to be living in one of the dorms they have set up there. _

_I'll send you a letter with where you can send your letters to me once I get settled in and all that so don't send any until then. They were pretty vague about the 'when' other than saying it would be 'soon' so just in case I don't want your letter ending up here at an empty doorstep._

_Sorry for the short letter! I've still gotta pack and check with some things for the group. I'll make it up to you in my next letter okay?_

_Have a good birthday little sis!_

_Alex_

Huh.

I smiled wryly, reading over a certain part of the letter again.

_Unfortunately, it turns out that I'll have to move out of my current place. The group I'm joining is based quite a bit away from Perion (can't tell you where exactly though sorry but I assure you it's nowhere shady) so I'm going to be living in one of the dorms they have set up there. _

It reminded me very much so of a letter I received from Oz around a year ago. In said letter she mentioned how she was chosen to be a part of a group and accepted it. Unfortunately said group was very big on confidentiality so she wasn't allowed to say very much about it.

She also had to be relocated to the group's base and had to send me a letter containing her new 'address.'

Using my game knowledge (although one year old at that time and so a bit fuzzy, which was actually rather clear in terms of my knowledge now- another year later) it wasn't hard to connect the dots.

It didn't help that after that letter in particular she would sometimes write about some new friends she made.

Guessing just who exactly said friends were wasn't too difficult. And how she would describe them was rather funny.

There was a guy with an extreme sense of justice and loved to be out in the sun training. He was almost always smiling except for during battle while he could become almost oddly serious. Oz had also decided to inform me that he was her senior and had been in the 'group' for the longest time compared to her other friends. Oz's name for him was (for the sake of the confidentiality thing) _Sunny_.

After that was a girl, a bit quiet maybe but not at all shy- serious was more like it. She would never hesitate to criticize or correct any bad behavior coming from their group. According to Oz, said girl was also very pretty and moved very gracefully. Oz dubbed her as _Princess_.

Then there was another boy. He was playful and liked to joke around a lot. Another thing was that he was always quick on his feet to avoid getting hit or reprimanded either from the quiet/serious girl or their apparent adviser/leader figure. He was _Joker_.

The last friend she mentioned was also a boy. This one wasn't at all like the other two boys though. He was quiet, I-don't-really-like-talking-in-general kind of quiet. Although he was rather anti-social and preferred to be in dark creepy places (completely contrary to the first boy) it turns out he was also a clean freak and would spend time during breaks cleaning and maintaining weapons. Oz had joked around a bit and attempted to call him _Loner _for a paragraph or two in the first letter she mentioned him in but switched it to _Moony _seeing as how he was pretty much the opposite of _Sunny_.

Oz had fondly told me in her letters that they were all dorks in a way. Team dork. Originally she wanted to call them nerds but after coming to the realization that some of said team members weren't exactly… nerd-standard she settled for dork.

I for one was just happy that she was happy and enjoying life in general. Not only because a happy Oz meant canon (according to the game) Oz, but because she was my friend. I wanted my friends to be happy you know?

Smiling at my thoughts I picked up Oz's letter from the remaining two that were left. I had pretty much memorized all my friend's handwriting after all the letters they've sent to me.

_Dear Eli,_

_Team Dork wishes you a Happy Birthday! We all pooled in to get you this awesome gift so make sure to write back to me in vivid detail about how much you love it when you get it okay? _

_I'ma hand this over to the members of Team Dork so they can say a few words to you._

_Hello Eliza. This is… Oh, Princess writing now. Today is your special day so make the most of it._

_Ha ha Eli! Can you tell which one of Team dork I am? It's Joker of course! Happy B-day to you my dear princess. Oh wait, scratch that. Apparently _(insert crossed out lines over a word making it unreadable) _is nicknamed Princess. Forgot about that. Well, hope you like the present we got you. It was my idea you know? Unless it turns out you don't like it. Then it was uh Moony's? Yeah Moony's idea._

_You were supposed to write a few words Joker but it looks like you can't even do that. Please ignore Joker, it was not my idea. It was a collaborative effort that everyone contributed to. This is Moony by the way. I wish you a good birthday. Since it's Sunny's turn is next I'll make sure he doesn't write too much. I'm sure you'd rather have more space for Oz to converse with you after all._

_Hey Eliza! This is Sunny here. Hope you have a wonderful birthday because any friend of Oz is a friend of mine. Hmph, Moony says all that but his part is pretty much as long as Joker's. _

_Okay it's me, Oz. Wow Joker and Moony wrote a lot. I won't read what they wrote though. That's all for your eyes only of course. _

_Anyways! I have great news for you. Remember Sunny? You should, he was the one who wrote his birthday message to you last. Well moving on, he just recently got an apprentice. Cool right? I hope I can get an apprentice soon. I wanna teach someone. _

_But it's only natural that Sunny get's his apprentice first. He was the one who joined before the rest of Team Dork. I still want to hurry up and get an apprentice though. If we're going by seniority then that means I'll be getting mine last. Which sucks, a lot. _

_If you're wondering why I don't just pluck a random Magician off from Ellinia to be my apprentice though I'll gladly inform you that it unfortunately doesn't work like that. See, our uh, divisions require special… characteristics? Something like that. So finding people to teach that fits all of the criteria needed is pretty difficult. _

_Oh well. I'll get an apprentice someday. At least that's what Mr. Adviser-Person says. For now I just need to keep brushing up my skills to make sure that I'd be an awesome teacher when I do get one!_

_Best wishes to you, birthday girl._

_Oz. (And Team Dork)_

Finishing up the letter I looked at it thoughtfully.

Seems like my hunch is right. Alex really is going to become a Cygnus Knight. A Dawn Warrior by the looks of it.

Tilting my head upwards I stared at the ceiling. It was blue. Majority of my room was still blue. I had gotten rather used to it.

Was it a good thing that he was becoming a Cygnus Knight? Of course it was. I mean, why wouldn't it be?

To think that very soon (if not already, seeing as how it took a few days for the letters to get here) two of my V.I.F would be living near each other. Or at least I think they'd be living near each other. I wasn't sure how they did things up at Ereve.

I sighed and picked up the last letter. Out of all of my V.I.F, she was the one who wrote the least often to me. Her letters were almost always short and to the point, giving me info on the general happenings of Victoria Island since I was all the way in Edelstein.

We had a mutual understanding. She would mail me any major (or interesting) news she came across and I would tell her when I was going to put my plan in action.

So far it seemed like none of the heroes had awakened. Which was good. Very good. I still had no idea where I was going with my very vague-ish plan.

I also didn't even start working on step one of said plan- _become stronger_. Not like I could anyways with the age limit set for Adventurers. I had no idea what the Resistance was doing either which meant my initial theory of becoming a _Battle Mage_ was out. I saw the members practically everyday when I left my house, either to go to school or to hang out with Macey or Luke. Either they were very good at hiding the fact that they were the Resistance, (which I was hoping for) or there wasn't a Resistance (which I was really dreading.) The latter of the two seemed pretty unlikely due to how things were progressing very similarly to how things were in the game though.

But you never know.

Groaning I hastily opened the envelope and unfolded the letter to start reading, hoping to get those thoughts off my mind- even if it was only for a little bit.

_I'm your enemy now. _

_Looks like our game is about to get a bit more interesting don't you think so? _

_We'll still stay in touch of course. (but sadly not as frequently)_

_How else would we be able to enjoy this to its fullest extent? _

_PS: Happy Birthday_

…

Thanks Charlotte. You just had to make things even more complicated.

I grimaced, reading over the letter a couple of more times before giving up and lying back down on my bed.

From the letter I learned two things:

1\. Charlotte had infiltrated the Black Wings. Don't know how. Or more importantly _why _but... I know Charlotte's not bad. At least when concerning the safety of her sister and so therefor the world. She must have some reason. A good one. Probably.

2\. She was still going to hold up her end of the bargain. I don't know how (or why) for that one either (I pretty much never do) but apparently she will so that means I still have to too.

There was also the obvious that the Heroes haven't awoken yet. Things were definitely going to get a lot more complicated and confusing when that starts to happen. I was already dreading receiving a letter from Evan saying something along the lines of _weird dreams_ or _I have a pet dragon_.

Honestly it's hard for me to imagine Evan being a dragon master. No offense to him of course but he's just…

He's only eleven now and although I know that (most likely) in a few years he _will _have to fill in the shoes of his predecessor, Freud, it's still hard for me to picture it.

Maybe it's because I still can't help but see him as the shy-loner boy I first met back in that potion shop in Henesys.

Or maybe it's because the Dragon Mage Evan that I visualized back during the time I played the game was too unrealistic for a normal person to live up to.

Who knows really?

But I suppose I'll just have to make do for now. I still have time. Maybe not that much of it, but I'll take what I can get.

It's probably about time that I get started on that plan of mine.

Let's see how well I can fare around some of the monsters located around town.

* * *

**This is so late holy sht.**

**So sorry about the late chapter. I've just started getting used to school again.**

**My teachers scare me.**

**Ha ha. Well yeah. I'll try to keep my updates consistent. Were you guys thrown off by the time skip? Sorry but this story isn't exactly going to be a stranger to time skips if you know what I mean.**

**Don't worry though. I'm not making it up as I go, I've got it planned and all.**

**I'll write more in this maybe later. I'm typing with one hand since I'm having forearm pains with the other.**

**It's really hard.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Monster Hunting Attempt #1**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 7/22/14**

**Finished Writing: 8/7/14 (Omg)**


	13. Monster Hunting

Past The Screen

_Chapter Thirteen_

* * *

Not many people know that there is an art to sneaking out. However, those who do know are practically _ninja's _seeing as how good they are at sneaking out and returning undiscovered.

I am not one of those people as noted by how I promptly tripped over my own feet not even a foot away from my bedroom window. (I quietly thanked the goddess that I lived in a one story house)

"Ow…" I muttered to myself as I pushed myself up from the (thankfully) grassy part of my family's yard. A quick glance around my surrounding area signaled that no one noticed my small mishap and I took that opportunity to close my window almost all the way.

_Almost_.

Reaching into my pocket and taking a rather thick white decorative hairpin (flowers, butterflies, and the like) that I got from Macey for my birthday last year I placed it right underneath the window so that it was still open a crack. I still needed to get back into the house after accomplishing my mission of course.

But that wouldn't be until a couple of hours from now, that I was sure of. It totally wouldn't have worked out if I actually went with my parent's original plan of going out for lunch but due to me feigning sickness to my parents, (it wasn't hard really, I already felt like crap for lying to them in the first place) they agreed to postpone it till dinner. That meant I had until around four at the latest and considering the fact that it was eleven it added up to a total of five hours.

Five hours should be enough to go and see real monsters, take notes, _engage _in combat with said monsters and then maybe buy a snack on my way back. I was skipping lunch for this anyways. But really, five hours is a long time. It'll be enough.

I hope.

* * *

Oh thank the goddess for giving me a _wire fence_ as my first obstacle. Anything harder and I might have actually bailed.

Tapping my foot I observed the monsters on the other side of said fence. I was now near the far outskirts of Edelstein. I wasn't _out _of the town yet though. The monsters there were probably too strong for me anyways.

Speaking of monsters though…

Slipping my backpack off my shoulders I unzipped it and brought out the book I readied for this journey.

_Edelstein Monsters For Aspiring Adventurers. _

A smile pulled at my lips as I opened the book to page four, where the actual information started. A peek between the potted plants only a couple of feet away from me and the drawing in the book confirmed that I was in fact on the right page.

_Potted Sprouts (Lv.5)_

_As such the name implies, potted sprouts are in fact: Sprout plants that are in pots. The only thing differentiating them between non-monster sprout plants in pots are that Potted Sprouts have white circular eyes and small stubbly legs (often thought of to be roots) that extend below the pot. Potted Sprouts are very weak in comparison to the average adventurer but if a non-adventurer were to be swarmed by Potted Sprouts it is quite possible that said monsters could cause a good amount of damage. It is for that reason that although the town's outskirts are fenced off, the Edelstein police often go out on trips to lower the population of Potted Sprouts._

_A Potted Sprout does not have any special attacks but is capable of head-butting their opponent. This however is very weak in power but may cause slight bruising in unprotected areas. Attacks towards Potted Sprouts should be aimed towards the green sprout and not towards the pot. The pot has a much better defense than the sprout and fire magic is also very effective against this monster._

I sighed. Okay so basically aim for the green sprout, don't let them gang up on you, and fire magic is best. The last one is useless but the first two are good to know.

Placing the book back inside my bag I took out a notebook and a pencil and wrote down the information I was able to gleam from both the book and the first observations I made upon arriving.

_1\. Weak but can be a problem if encountered in groups_

_2\. Very spaced out in this area of the outskirts_

_3\. Slow in pace and takes frequent breaks_

I snapped the notebook shut and exchanged it for a decently thick wooden stick I had found on my way here. It was maybe two feet long and a couple of inches thick but at the same time wasn't too light or too heavy.

"This is probably going to go very wrong but oh well. Learn from experience right?" I mumbled to myself as I carefully climbed the wire fence, wooden stick held in my right hand.

Besides a few falls (three in total) due to misplacing my footing I managed to make it over the fence with only a couple of bruises and scratches. And maybe my left arm had a small cut from where I scratched it on the fence as I jumped off but it was only _one _cut. It wasn't even bleeding that much.

As if I'd let one small cut deter me from carrying out my mission. I wasn't going home until I brought at least _one _of these plants down.

Clutching my stick in my right hand (I was probably getting splinters as we speak) I approached the Potted Sprout closest to me, taking care to keep my steps as quiet as possible.

Somehow I was able to sneak up on it and hit it right on the top of the sprout. Which wasn't very hard to do actually - the hitting part, not the sneaking - these things reached only up to knees at most.

After being hit the plant gave out a high-pitched cry before scurrying away from me and towards a nearby one. I cursed under my breath as I saw the nearby Potted Sprouts give similar cries, using their tiny legs to either run towards me or to the one I just hit.

I'll call the one I hit Tattle because it's tattling on me to the other sprouts. Why can't it just fight it's own battles like a man?

Well, maybe that Potted Sprout was a woman and not a man. Or wait a second, do monsters even have genders anyways?

I bit my lower lip as I cautiously took a step back from the newly formed small army of Potted Sprouts. Weren't they distanced out earlier? How did they get this close so quickly? "Oh goddess this is bad they're ganging up on me, _abort abort_-"

I quickly ran towards the fence and was about to make it when I tripped. Over a baby Potted Sprout. Said Potted Sprout gave out a similar, albeit higher-pitched shriek (ow my ears) than Tattle's and proceeded to headbutt me.

Ow. Damn, I can definitely feel a bruise coming on.

Whacking the monster on the sprout with as much force as I could muster I couldn't help the glee I felt as I saw it fall on to the ground. I had actually killed one of them! Mission accomplished!

That happiness and sense of accomplishment however faded fast as I noticed that the sprout was starting to dull in color and its white beady eyes turned unseeing.

Oh. This got really depressing really quickly.

I quickly pushed back my slight guilt and grimaced as I realized that the Potted Sprouts seemed to become even _faster _in their pursuit for me so I willed my small legs to move faster. Upon reaching the fence I didn't even hesitate throwing away the stick that might as well been glued to my hand and took to climbing up the fence at a faster pace than before.

But of course, being_ chased by a group of Potted Sprouts that want to headbutt you to the moon _served as very good motivation in this situation.

My breath hitched as my fingers slipped, not too far from the top of the fence and I almost fell into the small army of potted plants below me. Thankfully I was able to quickly grasp on to the wire before _completely _falling but I fell enough that the _goddess damned _plants could jump and hit my calves.

Why didn't the book tell me they could jump?

With renewed vigor I scrambled to the top of the fence and haphazardly fell off on to the other side face first. I quickly extended my hands in front of me to break my fall and I felt tears form in the corners of my eyes as I felt my hands scrape against the ground. Thank goodness it was grass and not concrete though.

I sighed and gently felt the palms of my hands, wincing after running over a splinter or a particularly bad scratch. Speaking of scratches- I looked towards my left arm and frowned as I noticed the blood slowly flowing out of the cut I received from first climbing over the fence. It wasn't actually bleeding that much but it was definitely more than I would have preferred.

Looking around I almost groaned. I was in the outskirts of the town, of course there wouldn't be any convenient sort of cloth I could use to wipe off or stop the blood. I glanced down at my feet and scowled. Grabbing a rather large leaf from the ground I tried to dust off as much dirt as I could. Then I pressed it to my cut.

My eyes squeezed shut as I felt a sharp pain go through me and I prayed because _this was definitely going to get infected I just know it but what else was I supposed to do? _

Using my clothes was out, I was just wearing a shirt and a pair of jeans. Besides, mom did my laundry and she'd definitely notice if I got blood on either. Just letting it bleed out wasn't a good idea either. Sure it wasn't a big enough cut and bleeding so much that I was going to die of blood loss but I actually didn't fancy any type or amount of blood loss.

Looking over the cut again, green leaf pressed to it and all I wondered why'd it start bleeding so much anyways. Did I agitate it or open it up while I was trying (and failing) to fight the potted plants?

I shook my head. That didn't matter at the moment. I could figure it out later. When I wasn't bleeding, scratched up, and had multiple splinters in my right hand.

A sigh escaped me as I hobbled a good amount _right _of where I first came from. Going home looking like this probably wasn't a good idea after all.

"Now let's see… Which way was it to Mr. Carol's shop again?"

* * *

Thank _anything _and _everything _for Mr. Carol's shop being in the outer area of the market place. Really, that man is my favorite person right now.

At the moment I was in his shop - The Edelstein General Store - which not only had different assortments of foods, medicines, and potions- but a _bathroom_. A pretty decent one too that I just might have locked myself in after running through the doors only a few minutes earlier with a somewhat rushed and understandable greeting.

Looking at myself in the mirror I raised my left arm, the one with the cut. The bleeding had mostly stopped and I contemplated buying a pack of band aids for a couple of seconds. Tilting my head to the side and glancing to the floor I blinked twice before re-aligning my head and switching my backpack to hang in front of me. Unzipping the bag I grabbed my wallet and opened it. A thousand mesos in total.

Should I? Maybe I should…

"Hurry up in there Eliza you've been in there for quite awhile now. I've also gotta ask you a couple of questions too missy." Mr. Carol's voice rang clear through the door. I scowled and looked over my hands and arms again. My jeans hid the bruises I had on my legs but my arms and hands…

Well at least they didn't look too bad now. I could probably pass it off as bad luck. Falling out of a tree or something like that.

Taking a deep breath I turned away from the mirror and headed to the door. Bracing myself I turned the handle, sucking in a breath as I felt a slight sting go through me. A quiet _ahem _made me pause and I looked up to see the aged face of Mr. Carol.

"And just how did you get those cuts and scratches Miss. Eliza?" He stared down at me and I tried a shaky smile.

"I tripped a lot. And fell." That at the very least was true.

He raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing outside anyways? I distinctly remembered getting a call from your parents awhile ago stating that you weren't feeling well and were going to rest in bed until your postponed till dinner time celebration?"

Shrugging I avoided looking at him in the eyes, angling my head to instead observe the items he had on display.

Oh look, red potions were on sale. Buy three and get a hundred mesos off.

I heard the slight ringing of the bells as the door opened and looked up to see Brighton walk through the door with a hesitant smiled as he scratched his head.

Although I never was formally introduced to him I knew of him well enough without using the game knowledge that I had. People talked. Especially Macey, she seemed like she was quite up to date with whatever gossip or etc. was going on in the town and naturally since I was best friends pretty much everything she ended up finding out I found out about too.

Mr. Carol took one more look at me and sighed before heading back to the counter with a knowing look on his face.

"What is it now Bright?"

I raised an eyebrow, not knowing that Brighton and Mr. Carol were on good enough terms to be using nicknames. This would be good info to tell Macey definitely.

Brighton shrugged, keeping his smile even as he turned to look at me with a slightly raised eyebrow. Not knowing what else to do I waved and muttered a quiet _hello_.

The smile grew wider at my greeting and he nodded his head before turning back to Mr. Carol. "Just the usual. Scraped my arm on the rake again."

The older man shook his head causing the custodian to laugh, albeit a bit nervously. "I swear that puddle was _not _there when I was first raking. It just appeared and-"

I zoned out from the conversation as I took to observing the probably Battle Mage instructor. I only say probably due to not having any evidence on the Resistance's existence. _Yet_.

"-your birthday today little girl?"

I blinked repeatedly as I noticed that Brighton's voice was in fact directed towards me. Feeling my face heat up in embarrassment I asked him to repeat what he was saying.

Brighton's smiley expression didn't change as he answered, "I was just asking if today was your birthday…" He trailed off, looking at me in question.

"Eliza." I supplied shortly. "And yes it is my birthday."

He nodded and gestured towards Mr. Carol's display. "Is that so? Well here, pick anything from here and I'll buy you for it as a birthday present from me."

My eyes widened and I shook my head repeatedly. "You don't have to do that. You don't even know me anyways."

"That's not true, I've seen you before. It's hard not to considering Edelstein's size. You're… Leila and Marc's daughter right?"

"How did you know?" The words slipped out of me as I stared at him feeling slightly creeped out. I knew about him via Macey who was a gossip and info expert on people and things going on throughout town but what about him?

The custodian only continued to smile. "Purple hair isn't exactly common around here. Or anywhere for that matter."

I wonder if it hurt to keep smiling like that.

"But back to our original topic, Eliza if you would please." He once again gestured to the items on display.

Shrugging I walked over a grabbed a small red potion and placed it in his awaiting palm. I watched carefully as his smile fell a little.

"Why do you need this?" He asked quietly, turning over the bottle in his hands.

"Tripped and fell." I stated simply and raised up my left arm to show him the cut. Although I did actually trip and fall it wasn't at all the cause of the cut. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him though.

The man seemed to accept my answer and Mr. Carol rung up the inexpensive purchase in almost record timing. Afterwards I took the offered drink a bit too quickly causing a worried expression to appear on both men's faces. I waved off their concerns physically and verbally.

"This is actually the first time I've drunk a potion. I'm quite excited." I smiled, ignoring their still concerned looks on both their faces (huh?) and gulped it down it one go. A tingly feeling coursed through my entire body and I grinned in amazement as the pain in my hands and legs faded. What caught most of my attention however was the small cut on my left arm that was slowly, _slowly _getting smaller until-

It was gone.

"Wow that's super cool." I smiled, moving around my arm a little bit.

"You really think so?" Mr. Carol's voice reached my ears suddenly.

I lifted my head and frowned at both Brighton's and Mr. Carol's surprised faces with the latter of the two quickly explaining the situation.

"It's just that… Most people claim that the effect of potions on their body are very uncomfortable. It often takes Adventurers a couple of weeks of constant use of potions in order for them to become entirely at ease when taking them. The fact that you were able to drink the potion so quickly and have no adverse effects…" He trailed off, staring at me in almost wonder. From the corner of my eyes however I saw Brighton's eyes narrow slightly. Not good. I forced a smile and thought really hard about my next words.

"Hm… Well being unique is a good thing right?" I nodded to myself while linking my hands loosely behind my back. I tried my best to look as nonthreatening as possible which seemed to worked since Brighton's face relaxed slightly. Mr. Carol on the other hand got a sudden epiphany and rushed to the storage room in the back of the store.

Which left me and Brighton alone. Talk about awkward.

I blinked and tried to casually look away from him and instead towards the many different types of potions on display. Hopefully he'll ignore me, I'll ignore him, and we can both get through this without any problems. Socializing unless necessary wasn't really my thing after all. Being the social butterfly was Macey's job, not mines. I was sort of like Zeno in that aspect of things.

But of course the world for some reason has nothing better to do than crush my hopes. I just couldn't seem to get things to go the way I wanted, even on my birthday.

"So how old are you now Eliza?"

Still avoiding eye contact as I continue to stare at a random shelf and I stated simply, "Ten."

A bout of silence encompassed us and I briefly wondered just what Mr. Carol was doing in the storage room.

"I'm guessing you're not really one for small talk?" He guessed.

"Not really… but I guess it depends on my mood." I admitted, my mind already starting to wander. I wonder if there was alchemy in this world… Was that how they made potions? Probably.

"Having a bad day? Isn't it your birthday today?" I turned to him and frowned.

"I didn't say I was having a bad day. To be honest though… today isn't really going as I planned it to be." My mind flickered back to the earlier incident with the Potted Sprouts. I gave a slight shudder and my hand itched to rub the spot on my arm where the cut used to be.

Brighton hummed. "It's only natural. Life never really goes the way you want it to be."

"I can dream though." I said more to myself than to him but he still heard it all the same.

"Dreams huh. What is your dream Eliza?" I froze. So many things appeared in my mind at that moment.

My dream?

Who knows? I certainly don't.

To go home maybe? But after a couple of years I'm starting to get used to this world… I have a family here, and friends too. I'm not sure I want to leave it anymore...

Could defeating the Black Mage be my dream? That's what my whole 'plan' is for isn't it?

My mind spun as different thoughts whirled through my head until a conversation I had with Macey a couple of weeks ago took center stage.

"_What do you wish for?" _

_I glanced up from my book and frowned. "You should know that already Macey." I gave my friend a look and returned to reading. _

_Macey however seemed undisturbed by my abrupt dismissal of her question. "Other than going home of course. And don't say something like world peace, defeating the Black Mage- you know stuff like that?"_

"_I actually don't know 'stuff like that.'"_

_I heard her groan and hid my small smile by lifting my book slightly upwards to cover my face. I absently turned a page, not really focusing on it anymore. I was curious. What was Macey trying to do?_

"_If everything in the world was perfect and there were no problems for you to give up your wish for the 'sake of humanity' or et cetera what would you wish for and why? Come on I really want to know." _

_I peeked over the edge of my book and saw Macey staring at me very intently. She was serious about this. I should be too then. _

_Placing the book face down to keep my page I thought about it for a moment. My eyes unconsciously wandered down to the book I was reading previously._

"_I swear if you say something like_ I wish forall the books in existence because I love books _we are officially not friends." _

_This time I couldn't hide my smile and leaned back in the chair I was sitting in. I closed my eyes. _

"_Maybe I'd wish to be able to use magic?" It came out more like a question than a statement. I blinked open an eye to observe her reaction and found that she was smiling. _

"_I totally knew there was a reason why you mostly read those fantasy novels and those books on different types of magic." _

_I rolled my eyes. "You of all people should know that I was reading those magic books to see if there was a possible way to get me back to my world."_

"_But I knew that you had absolutely no idea what they were talking about in the books but read them anyways! Now it all makes sense, you like magic!" She cheered and was quickly hushed by a conveniently passing librarian. I snickered as she lowered herself into her own seat with a childish pout. _

"_I kind of knew what they were talking about." Or not really at all actually. _

_Macey stuck out her tongue. "Sure you did. But don't worry Eli, when we head to Victoria Island we can both head to Ellinia and become Magicians together okay?" _

_My smile fell slightly but it returned to normal in a flash. _

"_Yeah sure." Was my answer to her. Even though I knew that magic to the extent needed to become a Magician was something usually inherited through bloodline. Even though I already knew that there were no known magicians in my entire family because I had asked my parents about it already. _

_Even though I knew that being able to use magic would probably be only a simple wish of mine. A dream I guess you could call it._

A dream.

"Is there something wrong Eliza? You seemed out of it for a second there." Brighton's concerned voice washed over me and I nodded.

"Oh no, I was just thinking about your question." I smiled. "Actually I think my dream, although a bit far-fetched maybe is-"

"Sorry to keep you waiting! I was having a hard time remembering where I hid it." Mr. Carol unknowing interrupted me with a grin. He was just exiting from the storage room with a rectangle box wrapped in purple and blue starred wrapping paper and a bright pink bow on top in his hands.

Mr. Carol handed the box to me gently and I took it into my small hands. I gave it a little shake.

"Happy Birthday Eliza." The General Store owner smiled at me. I returned the gesture and proceeded to carefully tear away the wrapping paper. Underneath it was a slightly worn out black notebook.

"Open it." He encouraged and I did after a moment's hesitation. On the first page was a dedication.

_To Carol's little helper, Eliza._

_I'm sure you'll master the contents in this book soon enough._

_Please do come by and visit me sometime in the future_

_-Aurea_

My eyes widened. Was this really-?

I quickly flipped to the next page which revealed to be a table of contents.

_Need to knows for Magic_

_Channeling Mana_

_Absolute basics in manipulating Mana_

The list went on. I lifted my face from the book, mouth slightly open in a gape. "How did you…?"

"A friend of mines, Aurea, is a Magician Teacher in Ellinia. I asked her a couple weeks ago to compile beginner knowledge into a book." He smiled faintly. "Macey also happened to me awhile ago that you liked magic but that the books about it in the library were too advanced for you to actually understand it."

My eyes traveled back down to the book in wonder. I quickly skimmed through what little pages there were. It was roughly twenty pages in total, very thin. But also very packed in knowledge, drawings, the like.

I grinned, hugging the notebook to my chest. "Thank you so much Mr. Carol! This'll be so much fun to read I just know it."

"Maybe you'll actually be able to do some of the stuff in the book Eliza." Mr. Carol added lightheartedly.

My smile faded just a bit. "I'm not too sure about that. Magic is usually passed down through families except for rare cases right?" I glanced back down at the notebook in my arms and I clutched it bit tighter. "But that's okay. Even if I can't use magic… I think it's still fascinating all the same."

"You never know Eliza…" Mr. Carol trailed off and was quickly interrupted by Brighton, his smile still present but his eyes seemed a tad too serious for my liking.

"It is true that Magic is usually passed down through families but that doesn't mean that someone who doesn't have any Magicians in their family can't use magic. It just might… make it a bit harder for them per se. Even so like Carol said earlier, you never know really. You might turn out to have a talent for it"

"What makes you think that?" I blurted out the words without really meaning to. I couldn't help it. The way he was talking… It sounded like he thought I could use magic. No, his voice was too confident. He definitely knew that I could. Coming from anyone else but him I wouldn't have believed it, or actually even noticed it. But he was the Battle Mage Instructor of the Resistance and from this albeit short conversation I was now almost certain of its existence.

I watched cautiously as Brighton opened his mouth to respond but I noticed from the corner of my eye the time, three o' clock. My eyes widened. My absolute deadline to get back home was four o' clock since that was the latest I estimated my parents would check on me to make sure I was okay for a dinner celebration. The earliest… Let's just say that was fifteen minutes from now, and that was if I was lucky.

With a rush of abrupt apologies and quick waves along with a hurried _I need to go now_ I bursted out of the potion shop only to have a black jacket and cap thrown at me. They hit me square in the back since I hadn't been warned before hand and I spared a glance behind me at a bewildered ninety-nine percent probable Battle Mage Instructor and an amused General Store owner.

"Your hair is a big giveaway. If you want to get back without being noticed by any family or friends it's best if you wear those." Mr. Carol called out to me. I spared a small smile and hastily pulled on the jacket and cap on, thanking to the high heavens that I had previously decided to cut my hair short. It made fitting it into the cap so much easier. A slight rustling sound as I moved to take a step also notified me of a pair of black sunglasses in the jacket pocket and so I put that on too.

One last wave to the two men in the store I sprinted in the direction of my house holding the notebook.

Speaking of said notebook though…

Curiosity took control of me for a brief second and I made a quick turn into an alleyway. One little peek just to satisfy my curiosity before I headed home would be okay. I still had time after all. Sort of.

What I didn't expect though was for the notebook to be ripped out of my hands not a second after I cracked it open and I looked up in alarm to see the smirking face of one Black Wing Watchman, Bavan.

What felt like ice spread through my veins and I froze up in fear.

"Now what's this notebook you've got here? Little Resistance member using this to keep track of special classified info?"

* * *

**Haha it's done. Finally. Now please forgive this procrastinating young lady for putting off finishing this chapter for so long.**

**I AM SO SORRY. **

**I really am.**

**And I'm going to make it up to you guys, just watch.**

**Yeah I know I'm a horrible person who didn't upload for like three weeks but please forgive me okay? **

**Btw what even is outlines I never follow them anyways.**

**I really wanted to just upload this without editing. I really did. But my mind wouldn't let me boo.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: T**he Black Wings and The Resistance (which was supposed to happen this chapter but I put it off because I didn't want to wait any longer to upload) and some other stuff too. Probably.****

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 8/08/14**

**Finished Writing: 8/30/14 **


	14. Auras

Past The Screen

_Chapter Fourteen_

* * *

"_Now what's this notebook you've got here? Little Resistance member using this to keep track of special classified info?"_

The words echoed throughout my mind and as Bavan's hand - the one not holding the notebook - gripped my neck just enough to make it a bit hard for me to breathe I thought to myself,

_I've finally got proof that the Resistance is real._

Not a second after that thought came to focus what seemed like _shadows_ attacked the orange-haired man and he was forced to let go in order to dodge the dark wisps that actually looked more purple than black. It fanned across my face and all of a sudden I couldn't help but feel faint and my vision started to blur.

Before the darkness all but encompassed me I could vaguely make out Bavan's face morph into an ugly sneer towards something -_someone _before he made a break for outside of the alley.

My knees gave out and before my face connected to the hard concrete I heard a familiar voice say, "Look what you've done now."

* * *

The first I registered upon waking up was that I was warm. Too warm. In a futile effort to go back to sleep I tried to kick back the blankets that were near suffocating me and reached out for the pillow I kept close to me to hold just like a teddy bear.

Something was wrong though. The pillow wasn't there and my hand only met thin air. I extended my arm even further, assuming that I had just pushed it away while sleeping but in my quest to get the pillow I, quite clumsily if I may add, fell on to the floor.

Hard wooden floor mind you, not at all like the comfy carpet I had at home. Both realizations - the falling and the feel of the floor - made me snap my eyes open instantly.

I wasn't in fact sleeping in my bedroom. No, I was in a different place entirely…

Loud footsteps outside my door jerked me to my feet and I barely had time to duck and cover as the door was busted open by a black jaguar with a familiar looking police officer riding on it's back carrying a crossbow.

It would've been a very impressive display and I might have actually gaped at the image of the two in awe but the effect of their entrance was diminished by the fact that Belle was wearing Orange Mushroom pajamas.

"What happened? Where's the Black Wings?" Belle's commanding voice rang loud and clear as she scanned the small room I was in. Her eyes narrowed and turned to me after finding nothing. "You're, Eliza right?" I nodded quickly. "What happened? What was that crash I heard earlier?"

"Um… I kind of fell off the bed." I said slowly, looking down at my feet. After a period of silence I raised my head to see Belle staring at me in disbelief. "Well I was half asleep so… yeah."

Belle laughed. "Okay sure. Why not? I suggest you get back to bed missy. You've got a long day ahead of you."

"Go back to sleep?" My eyes slowly widened. "Wait… Where am I? What time is it?"

"It's late enough." Belle walked up to me and pulled me by my arm towards the bed. After making sure I was settled under the covers she placed a warm hand over my forehead.

"One more minute to go Eliza. Happy birthday."

The heat increased and I took in a breath before letting it out again. My body suddenly felt heavy and my eyes fluttered before I finally succumbed to sleep.

* * *

"-Look she's waking up... Eliza? Can you hear me?"

That was Belle's voice… I think.

"Miss. Hertsh? I'm going to need you to open your eyes now." Claudine.

With much effort I managed to open my eyes a bit. After blinking a couple of times I found my vision clearing to show the _Resistance Crew _as I'll take to calling them. Claudine, Brighton, Belle, and Checky. The core members of the Resistance I guess you could call them too. But Resistance Crew sounds cooler in my head and I can shorten it to R.C when needed.

Anyways, the R.C were looking at me with varying degrees of emotions.

Claudine was calm and collected but I could practically _feel _her oozing with suspicion and maybe just a slight amount of irritation.

Brighton looked relieved mostly but a bit worried too. He kept shooting glances between me and Claudine. Not like I could blame him though.

Belle seemed bored. When I glanced over her however she smiled and waved. I would've waved back if I didn't feel so tired despite the plenty amount of sleep I must have gotten.

Lastly, Checky… Well I don't know what he was feeling. I don't think it was possible for me to. The bear mascot just seemed to stare at me unmoving. It was kind of creepy now that I think about it.

The sound of Claudine clearing her throat caused my attention to direct back to her. After we locked eyes she took a step towards me and crossed her arms. I gulped. This had a pretty good chance of going _really _badly for me.

"Eliza Hertsh, ten years old as of yesterday and a student at Edelstein Elementary. A completely clean medical history other than an incident when you were seven in which you developed a high-fever and claimed amnesia the following night." The doctor recited mechanically. Her eyes narrowed. "While that… _incident _is quite suspicious in itself not to mention your behavior afterwards… That is not what I am here to talk to you about. Do you know of the Resistance? Don't bother lying. We _will _be able to tell."

I paused and tried to comprehend what she had just told me with my tired brain. After it finally did register I bit the inside of my cheek. What to do, what to do?

Tell the truth? That'd be the best course of action. But just _how much _of the truth should I tell?

I opened my mouth then thought better of it and frowned before nodding slowly in response to the earlier question. It would be best to answer as little as possible in this situation I suppose.

"How?" Belle asked this time, her green eyes filled with curiosity.

Without skipping a beat I answered with a simple statement. "That guy… The one who cornered me in that alley said I was a…" I paused, trying to remember the exact words. "A _little Resistance member_. I also kind of suspected a sort of rebellion group since well, it's kind of common in novels with somewhat similar circumstances as our town."

That was kind of true. A little warped to explain it in a way _other _than knowing via a game but still true all the same.

Mentally I thanked myself for spending so much time in the library because I had that to back me up with too.

A quiet giggle from Belle caused me to raise an eyebrow at her. What was so funny?

Apparently she could guess what I was thinking just from my expression because she said in between giggles, "I heard the rumors but-" She wiped tears from her eyes. Dramatic much? "Wow you _really _don't act your age."

I couldn't help but frown. "Why does _everyone _say that? Maybe I'm just mature for my age."

"Sure. But we're getting off topic here." Claudine interrupted our conversation and I turned my attention back to her. "If you couldn't tell by now the Resistance is a real group. It is however very secretive and the members are all sworn to secrecy. Using your _mature _brain I hope you can connect the dots to that."

Clenching my hands underneath the covers I nodded slowly. "Now that I know about the Resistance… You are going to have me sworn to secrecy too?"

Claudine smirked. "So optimistic that we're not going to just keep you locked here so you won't ever have the chance to tell anyone?"

I blinked. Oh yeah, they could do that too. But wouldn't my family worry about me?

"Claudine." Brighton warned.

Said person sighed. "I know. My apologies, I thought we could all get good laugh out of that." She uncrossed her arms and took to leaning against the wall nearest to my bed and shook her head. "You people have no sense of humor."

Now that earned a couple of laughs. Belle even went so far as to blurt out, "Sorry Clau but I think _you're _the one here that doesn't have a sense of humor. That wasn't even funny. You sounded way too serious."

"I wasn't serious… Or at least I wasn't trying to be. I was smiling right?" Claudine furrowed her brows and turned to me. "You seemed unaffected to it even though I thought I'd at least scare you a little."

I bit my lip. "Um…"

Her head tilted slightly and she gave off a slight smile. "Perhaps you're just a bit slow when concerning threats?"

"...Maybe?" I offered. Who knows, it could be true. It's not like I'm threatened often enough to tell. I think part of how slow my brain was reacting was due to hunger though.

Brighton stepped up and extended a hand towards me. I imagined it was to help me sit up. As I reached for it Claudine's sharp voice made me pause.

"Do you really think it's okay Brighton?"

The man just glanced back at her and smiled. "Of course. Eliza's a good person. Right Eliza?" He turned back to me, waiting for my reply.

"That depends on what your definition of good is." Was my automatic reply. I blinked and cursed mentally. I really needed to start thinking before speaking.

"I like her." A soft and slightly deep voice resounded throughout the room. I frowned in confusion wondering who's voice it was since it obviously wasn't Brighton's. My eyes widened as I pinpointed the only other person in the room who could have said that.

Belle whistled. "Wow, you've managed to get Checky over here on your side. That's pretty amazing you know."

I blinked repeatedly at the bear mascot, unable to comprehend hearing that voice from it. It was completely different from the voice I remembered hearing when playing with some of my classmates with Checky. That voice was a lot more higher in pitch and squeaky… Unnatural to say the least.

This one on the other hand… It sounded well, natural. And also kind of young too-

"Looks like you're three to one Claudine." Brighton grinned.

"Hey hey when did I say that I was all for Eliza joining the Resistance?" Belle smiled playfully, giving me a small wink.

I frowned, not really understanding what was happening. "Wait… What?"

All of them looked at me in confusion.

Then Claudine regained her bearings and clicked her tongue, amused. "And to think that I thought that you'd be able to connect the dots with your _mature _mind." The rest of the R.C seemed to agree likewise with their similar expressions.

"Well I'm kind of thinking on an empty stomach here sorry." I pouted and like a spoken command my stomach growled. Giving a small sigh I patted it sympathetically. "I know, hopefully these people will be nice enough to give me food so you won't be so empty anymore. Too bad, I was looking forward to eating birthday cake" I said the last part softly as if I was saying it to myself. The R.C of course heard it though and I internally grinned at their guilty faces.

Yes, suffer in the guilt that you basically starved a ten-year old girl of food on her _birthday_. A birthday in which I only ate one meal seeing as how I skipped lunch and was knocked out before eating dinner.

Goddess I was _starving_.

Brighton cleared his throat and I just noticed that he had previously retracted his offered hand since he was now offering it to me again. "Come on, I'll take you to the cafeteria so you can get some food."

My eyes lit up at the mention of food and my response was instant. "There's a cafeteria here?" I took his offered hand and he helped me out of bed. Good thing too since I started to sway after trying to take my first step.

"Woah there, everything's starting to spin. Or blur. Actually both I think." I closed my eyes tight as I tried to fight off an upcoming headache. Why only now do I start feeling like crap?

"Call Wendelline over." I heard Brighton say as he led me back to the bed. I brought my knees up and rested my chin on them. In the background I heard Belle cheerful yet slightly worried 'Aye aye Captain!' and her quick and light footsteps leading outside afterwards.

I felt more than heard Claudine come over and she sat next to me on the bed. "Hm… Looks like the Dark Aura affected you more than we thought it did." Her voice was more curious than concerned. The concern was still there though, just not as present.

I blinked my eyes open at that. "Dark Aura…?" I trailed off, taking turns glancing between the two left in the room. Checky must have left with Belle. I didn't hear his footsteps though, that was kind of scary.

"Not important." Brighton stated strictly.

My lips tugged downwards into a frown. "Not important my ass." I mumbled, purposely making it hard to understand.

"Excuse me?" His reprimanding tone caused an automatic reaction.

"Nothing." I said as I quickly turned my head to the side. A flash of pain struck through me at that moment and I couldn't help but grimace as I brought up a hand to the side of my head to try and massage it. Looks like sudden movements such as that were a no-no for now.

It was at that time that Claudine and Brighton's heads snapped up to look at the closed door. I frowned in confusion before I heard approaching footsteps in the hallway.

Wow that's some good hearing right there. I wonder if I could be like that too.

The door opened and in came Belle, Checky, and a woman that seemed somewhat familiar to me. Wendelline was what Brighton called her earlier. She… Was the one who healed any Resistance members at the base for free in the game. I'm also pretty sure that her cover outside of being in the Resistance was a Plastic Surgeon.

"Hello, you must be Eliza. My name is Wendelline and I work as the Treatment Specialist here in the Resistance." The woman stated almost in monotone. Her face however lit up slightly afterwards after approaching me and she took a bit of my hair in her hands. "I must say seeing your hair up close is incredibly fascinating."

Belle beamed. "I know right? It's a shame you cut it short a couple of months ago. I always dreamed of doing your hair one day after you finally joined the Resistance."

My face morphed into confusion. "Wait… you expected me to join the Resistance?"

"Uh… no! Forget what I said, ha ha..." The wild hunter smiled anxiously while glancing between Claudine and Brighton. "I'm going to go now… yeah." And then she made her escape.

I turned to Claudine for an explanation but she was glaring at the door where Belle had exited just a few seconds ago. Then I turned to Brighton to see him sigh and scratch his head. A quick glance at Checky afterwards noted that he was still standing there, expression as unreadable as ever.

"Moving on from that." Wendelline cleared her throat and my attention was focused back on to her. "I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer them as honestly as possible, okay?"

"Okay."

We spent the next couple of minutes going back and forth. Wendelline would ask a question and then I would spend a few seconds thinking about my answer before answering her. She would then write down my answer on to a clipboard she had brought with her. Sometimes she would also ask one of the other three in the room a question to which they would answer quickly without hesitation, almost like they expected her to ask them said question. She would likewise write down their answer as she did with mine.

After finishing answering the last question and while Wendelline was in the middle of writing down my answer I asked the one question that had been on my mind throughout this entire thing.

"Hey…" I said to get their attention. All but Wendelline turned to me. "Why is Wendelline the one uh… helping me?" It was at this that said person looked up with a raised eyebrow. I backtracked. "Not that I don't want your help or anything it's just that well, isn't Claudine a doctor? Can't she or well-" I turned to look at Claudine "you help me too?"

Claudine shook her head. "I'm a doctor and so I focus and am more knowledgeable on more… _normal _cases."

"So my case isn't normal?"

"Definitely not since it's Brighton's magic that was the cause of your symptoms." Wendelline piped in matter-of-factly.

Brighton, Claudine, and Checky gave her a disapproving stare. Or at least in Checky's case I'm _ninety-nine percent _sure he did. Can't be sure seeing as how he's in that bear-mascot suit.

"Oh, was I not supposed to say that?"

My eyes widened. Sure I had kind of expected it was Brighton's magic, _Dark Aura _paired with _Blood Drain _in particular, that was the cause of me knocking out earlier and the fatigue in general but _hearing _it was another thing entirely.

I was absolutely fascinated.

"Really? That was because of your magic?" I blinked and quickly added another part in after realizing that what I said might not sound quite right. "I didn't know you were a Magician!"

Brighton looked flabbergasted and Claudine was sporting a similar yet toned down expression. Wendelline seemed vaguely amused and Checky… Yeah I don't think I even need to say it.

"You're not… Mad?" Brighton asked cautiously.

I frowned. "Of course not. Why would I be?"

"Because his magic was what caused you to faint earlier which made it easier to transport you to our base. Not to mention that it's also the reason why you're feeling so tired at the moment." Claudine informed. Her stare was drilling into me and although her face was masked into complete and utter seriousness but she wasn't able to hide that shard of curiosity in her eyes.

I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes at Brighton's guilty expression. "Well I think the fainting bit was kind of necessary and it's not like I'll be stuck feeling tired forever right? I'll be fine after resting a couple of days so it's okay, really. I'm not mad at all."

"You seem rather happy to me actually." Checky's voice rang throughout the room and I grinned.

"Definitely." I turned to Brighton. "You're an actual Magician! Can I see you do magic?" I was practically bouncing in my seat on the bed.

Fortunately that was enough to get Brighton after his guilt-slump. Unfortunately his expression morphed into something more serious, much like Claudine's expression. However there was no sign of curiosity or anything else in his eyes like Claudine had.

"No, I'm not a normal kind of Magician. You wouldn't want to know the kind of magic that I do." And with that he exited the room.

My face fell and I tried to get off of the bed to follow him but Wendelline pushed me back down gently.

"You should follow your own advice and rest Eliza." Wendelline said and glanced back at the door. "And maybe… you should also listen to what Brighton was saying too."

I opened my mouth to protest and quick as a whip the Treatment Specialist brought out a syringe filled with liquid and injected me with it. Claudine opened her mouth to say something but her words fell on deaf ears because before I knew it the world swayed and I was encompassed into darkness. I didn't even feel myself hit the bed.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of someone singing. My eyes blinked open slowly and I turned in my bed towards the direction of the voice.

There were three people besides me in the room. One girl and two boys.

The girl had dark purple hair, almost black and it fell down her back in waves. She was sitting on the floor quite a bit away from me, leaning against the wall and her back was to me.

The first boy, the one who was currently singing was sitting at the foot of my bed and was smiling. His short light blonde hair was swept to the right and curled slightly at the tips. His eyes were a bright yellow and seemed almost like they were glowing.

The last boy was leaning against the door standing, he had light blue hair was pulled into a small ponytail and his eyes were a shade matching his hair and seemed to glow much like the other boy's.

I personally had no doubt that the girl also had purple glowy eyes since it seemed like a pattern among these people. They looked to be part of a group with matching all black clothing too.

Blondie was singing a song that was oddly familiar to me. I closed my eyes again and let the words wash over me. Then I realized just _why _that song sounded so familiar.

_It was my favorite song back in the other world_.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up straight in bed. Blondie merely grinned, stopping his singing and cocked his head to the side.

"Mornin' Eliza."

I blinked and rubbed my eyes. They were still there.

"Good morning?" I said tentatively and from the corner of my eyes I saw the girl stand up and turn around.

Ha, I was right. She had purple glowy eyes.

"It's good that you're awake. You've been sleeping for quite a long time." The girl spoke, her voice was soft and her eyes were slightly downcast.

"We were worried." The blue-haired boy added.

I nodded slowly. "Okay… So what? Are you guys part of the Resistance? Did Claudine or someone like assign you guys here to watch me?"

Blondie gawked. "What? _No_, of course we aren't-"

Quick light footsteps outside of the door made him pause and the other boy- the one with light blue hair - quickly moved away from the door and came to sit by Blondie.

Belle opened the door with a flourish, her mouth already open and speaking. "Hey I heard voices, who are you talking to Eli-" She stopped in the middle of the sentence and frowned. "Oh? I thought I heard you talking to someone though…"

Now it was my turn to frown. "But I am?"

The Wild Hunter's expression turned panicked. "Ah… ha ha. But Eliza, there's no one else here in the room. So there's no one for you to talk to."

"What are you talking about? There is other people in the room. Three people in fact." I felt my stomach drop. Oh goddess was I hallucinating? Did I actually go crazy? But they seemed like they were real... I really needed to know what Wendelline injected into me.

"Three?" Belle squeaked. I nodded cautiously. "They wouldn't happen to be in someway associated with the colors yellow, blue, and purple would they?" Her voice seemed to only go higher and higher in pitch.

I chanced a small smile. "Yeah, wait can you see them too then?"

Belle's face morphed into dread and she all but fled from the room.

"Brighton! Brighton, Eliza's- Her aura's and she's-" Belle's yells carried to my ears, gradually getting softer and softer as she made further distance away from me.

I closed my eyes shut tight. "I have a feeling that I shouldn't have said that."

"You've got that right."

I turned to look at the blue haired boy and frowned. Calling them by their hair color was way too long. And if my suspicions were correct… They wouldn't be going away for awhile.

"What are your names?"

The girl bit her lip. "We don't exactly have names. You can name us though." The other two boys nodded their heads in agreement.

I sighed. "Okay then…" I looked at the three of them and pointed to Blondie. "I'm naming you Light."

"Creative." Was his only response and I rolled my eyes at him.

Next was the blue-haired boy right next to Light. "You're… Tempest."

Tempest smiled. "Interesting. I like it."

I turned to the girl. She was looking at me in slight apprehension. "I'm naming you Star."

Star gave me a small smile. "It's a nice name."

Light chose this time to whistle. I looked at him is confusion and he explained. "My name was pretty obvious I think but I'm surprised you were able to come up with Tempest and Star's names right off the bat."

"Uh yeah… Sure." Well, it's not like they needed to know that I basically named them after some goldfish I had in the other world. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Well, I'm sure you have some questions about us so feel free to ask." Tempest said genuinely and I took them up on their offer.

"Okay then first question, just what are you guys?" I looked at each of them all gathered around my bed. They all exchanged glances and Star opened her mouth to answer it.

"We're… Like how that girl- Belle said earlier - Your auras. Although you can call us your hallucinations if you want to." Star grinned. "And yes, it's just like how you suspected. We're your yellow," She nodded towards Light. "Blue," Tempest. "And Dark Auras." She pointed to herself.

I pursed my lips. "How did you…? Are you like in my mind or something?"

"We _are _your mind Eliza. It's just split into three parts and represented as people." Light added.

Closing my eyes I sighed. This was getting kind of weird. And crazy too.

It was at that moment that Brighton walked in closely followed by the rest of the Resistance Crew and Wendelline.

"Eliza." His voice was serious. I opened my eyes and waved at him lazily.

"She seems fine to me." Wendelline shrugged. Brighton and Claudine glared at her not to subtly.

Belle approached me cautiously. "Eliza… Are you still seeing… _them_?"

I looked at Tempest, Light, and Star. They were all smiling like little innocent angels. _You people got me into this mess what do you think you're doing._

"Yeah if by 'them' you mean Light, Tempest, and Star." I said nonchalantly

"You named them?" Checky sounded surprised. I nodded as if naming my hallucinations (it sounded more fun than calling them auras) was normal.

Claudine stepped close to me and examined my face. "She still seems quite sane."

I beamed. "Thanks."

"You're not exactly helping your cause." Light informed me, poking Brighton's cheek with his finger.

I turned to him which meant (to the other people in the room) towards the empty space next to Brighton. "And just what do you mean by that?"

Said person stepped away from Light and I laughed as Light pouted.

"They're going to think you're crazy." Star smiled.

"Well then why are you smiling about it, it's like you want them to think I'm crazy." I mumbled underneath my breath as I twirled a strand of hair around my fingers.

"Aren't you? Crazy I mean." Tempest teased good-naturedly. I threw a pillow at him. Unfortunately I didn't get to see if the pillow would actually go through him since he dodged. Shucks.

"Eliza." Brighton's voice sounded confused and worried. "What are… Light, Tempest and…" He trailed off at the end. I drew a star in the air with my finger. "Star?" I nodded.

The Battle Mage Instructor sighed. "What are Light, Tempest, and Star doing right now?"

I looked around the room. "Star is sitting next to me, Light is walking around poking you all, and Tempest is waving his hand in front of my face- Will you stop that?" I said the last part to Tempest and he flopped back onto the bed.

There was a period of silence following that before Checky broke it. "They don't seem hostile… Not like the others."

I looked at him curiously and the three hallucinations seemed to share the sentiment and we all chorused together, "Others?" It's not like the others heard them but I still rolled my eyes at my hallucinations' actions.

"You don't know. Things could change." Claudine responded pessimistically. "And I don't think you want to know Eliza."

I looked at her dubiously. "Uh huh… Sure. Yeah no, I want to know."

"You don't know what you're getting into." Brighton warned which made me quite annoyed. Why was he being so serious now? Why was everyone being serious? I wasn't seeing what the big deal was about. I mean yeah sure I was hallucinating (seeing my auras) but that couldn't be too bad right?

And anyways, I wasn't all too opposed to the idea of becoming a Battle Mage actually. There was a reason why my main character was one. I absolutely loved that class.

"I don't, how else am I supposed to unless you tell me?" Was my answer to his question and he frowned.

Brighton turned to Wendelline (I almost forgot she was there) and told her to get _it _ready. She then left without a word.

"It?" I asked. Brighton shook his head. "I'll tell you about… almost everything as long as you promise me one thing."

"Name it." I said without missing a beat.

He took a deep breath before looking at me straight in the eyes. "Don't change."

"I have no plans of changing. I like who I am right now thank you very much." I raised my eyebrow at him and tried to joke a little which made Belle giggle slightly but Brighton retained his serious expression. I sighed and tried to mimic his expression. From Star's giggles and the boy's grins I wasn't very successful. I nodded all the same and motioned for him to start.

* * *

The story went something like this. When Brighton was a kid he knew something about him was different. He could see _something-_ later determined to be an _aura_ \- around other people, monsters, basically any living thing… Except for himself.

He learned to hide it after being taken to Claudine's mom- the town's resident doctor at the time- due to his parents thinking him to be sick. The only people he told were his close friends. That extended to the core Resistance members: Claudine, Belle, Elex, and another boy that he refrained from naming. (It was Xenon, it had to be him. I sense Claudine getting captured in the future or something like that.)

A lot of things happened and he left Edelstein to go to Victoria Island with the others to get stronger. They eventually separated due to conflicting places of interests and decided to reconvene at a much later date.

After awhile after separating from the others he started to hear voices in his head and later started to 'hallucinate.' He would see three people, all boys with each associating with one color, dark purple, yellow, and blue.

The three boys explained to him about auras and that they were directly connected with people's minds, souls, and life energy. They also told him how they represented his aura and explained the reason why there was three of them was because his mind was for some odd reason, broken into three parts.

Eventually he learned how to control his auras and named them after the colors his hallucinations took after. Blue Aura to represent the aura that the blue boy taught and explained to him how to control it, and likewise with Dark Aura and Yellow Aura.

Using the knowledge he gained from learning under the Magicians of Ellinia along with the help of his hallucinations he made his own type of magic that he called _Battle Mage Magic._

Upon returning to Edelstein to reunite with his childhood friends he was pleased that they were all able to become stronger and they all decided on a whim to start a group to resist the Black Wings.

They called it the _Resistance_.

It was at this time that their little group met Checky and he too was roped into being a member of the Resistance.

Now, years later the Resistance is a real and serious group that opposes the Black Wings. It's expanded from their small group of friends to a large and complex society with the original members holding high positions in it.

* * *

After hearing Brighton's explanation I couldn't help but frown at the seemingly abrupt ending. "Wait… What happened to those three boys? Your auras?"

Brighton smiled sadly. "Gone, mostly."

My blood seemed to freeze in my veins. "Gone?" I echoed.

"I had Wendelline create a cure to stop me from seeing them, from having hallucinations."

"But why?" I asked him incredulously.

"Because it's not normal. They weren't normal and not healthy for me either."

My mind flashed back to what Brighton told Wendelline. "By _it _did you mean… The thing you took to stop having hallucinations…?"

Claudine decided to step in here. "It's not actually hallucinations."

I frowned. "It's not? But he just said…"

"It's easier to classify those _people _as that." I glanced at my own hallucinations (who were apparently _not _hallucinations) and saw them avoid my eyes. "They're the personifications of your auras and so aren't just something your brain conjured up for you. It's real, to a certain extent. Much like Brighton's your aura is broken into three parts instead of just being the normal _one_. However… I'm not sure if your aura was _always _broken into three parts and so it only manifested now because of the drug or if the drug Wendelline injected you with earlier broke it into three."

Raising an eyebrow I asked them, "Why do you even have such a drug?"

Claudine didn't skip a beat. "For those who want to learn Battle Mage Magic." At my blank stare she elaborated. "Not anyone can be like Brighton and be able to see auras and already have their auras broken into the three necessary to learn the magic. The drug does both of those along with open their mind so that it is more likely for the auras to personify themselves in what would normally be described as hallucinations. It's a necessary part to learn how to control the auras as necessary in order to perform the magic."

"Then why did she inject me with the drug? I'm pretty sure you guys didn't plan for me to become a Battle Mage." I asked, resting my chin in my palm.

Belle grimaced. "That was an accident… She meant to inject you with a sleeping drug but she had earlier switched that syringe with the one meant for possible Battle Mage trainees."

"Possible?"

"The drug doesn't always work so well…" Brighton trailed off and I felt my stomach drop.

My eyes wandered to Belle. "So the reason why you seemed so panicked when I told you I was… Talking to someone who wasn't there…"

"The drug - more often than not - turns people crazy, actual crazy. Insane. Their hallucinations are usually very violent and they can't think straight at all. Even those who weren't affected that badly still can't handle their hallucinations, non-violent or not. It's why we haven't had any Battle Mage trainees, people hear the rumors and prefer not to try their luck even if we have a cure if things do go wrong." She answered solemnly.

"Then why do you still have the drug?" My hands were now clenched under the sheets and my mind was spinning. I'm not even sure I was registering half of what was going on at the moment.

Claudine smiled grimly. "Even though she's the one who deals with the users of the drug first hand and knows what it does, Wendelline remains optimistic that one day the drug will find it's use and we'll be able to have another Battle Mage."

Then they all turned their eyes to me and I did likewise to the three 'personifications of my aura.' I took a deep breath and tried to think of everything I had just heard. Everything made sense… Sort of. Everything except-

I opened my eyes and turned to look at Brighton. "Earlier you said, _don't change_. Why? I don't see why I would change after hearing all of that."

Claudine and Belle looked at Brighton disapprovingly. Checky did too I think but I couldn't be too sure with him.

"He's leaving out one key fact." Belle stated.

Claudine let out a sigh. "He didn't necessarily leave it out… It's more like he didn't pay enough attention to it for you to notice it."

"Well… Pay more attention to it because I haven't noticed what's the big deal yet." Flowed out of my mouth before I could stop it. I instantly clamped my mouth shut after that. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to."

Brighton shook his head. "It's okay… It's just, do you still see them? What was it? Tempest, Star, and Light right?"

I nodded. "Yes I still see them."

"Well, remember what I said your aura was?"

"It's my… mind, soul and-" My breath hitched. "...Life energy."

Wait but then… I turned to my three aura personifications and they were all looking at me in apology.

"You're seeing them now which means they're still personified. They use up aura in order to remain in that state even if you're the only one seeing them. Basically they're using up a little of your life energy now just to exist. The main reason I had Wendelline give me a drug to stop my hallucinations, from seeing my aura personifications was so that I could decrease the use of my aura: my mind, my soul, but most importantly my _life energy_."

* * *

**Holy oh my gosh longest chapter yet and done in a little over a week hell yeah.**

**I told you guys I was going to make up for that long wait.**

**I hope this makes up for it. Yeah.**

**Anyways, I honestly did not plan for this. At all. It wasn't in my outline, it just sort of _happened._**

**And I'm not sure if it's a good thing. **

**By the way this is an AU and there's so little information on the Maplestory Plotline and Timeline so I apologize in advance if I get anything wrong. The amount of information makes me want to cry. **

**Iunno does my explanations even make sense. I think they do. **

**Eliza still hasn't even open her birthday presents. Next chapter guys, next chapter.**

**Go check out _Behind The Screen _btw if you haven't already. I'll be posting little side stories on there and will be considered canon in this story. **

**If anything seems odd or wrong feel free to bring it up with me. I'm kind of iffy on my explanation and will probably elaborate on it more in the future. Ideas and suggestions are welcomed?**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Going around the base. **

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 8/31/14**

**Finished Writing: 9/07/14 (It was almost a one week update, almost.)**


	15. He doesn't understand

Past The Screen

_Chapter Fifteen_

* * *

"You have to be _kidding me_."

"I can assure you Miss Hertsh that I am not kidding you."

I slammed the palms of my hands on to the desk, my intention to at least _look _intimidating if I couldn't _sound _intimidating because of my high and childish voice. "I just saw then no more than two minutes ago, how are they already out of this _base_?"

Me and my auras (as I'll take to calling Tempest, Light and Star) were standing near the Resistance's Reception Area and arguing with the receptionist there.

I was surprised to see that the base was a lot bigger than how it was in the game. But the only reason why I was out of my little room was because the Resistance Crew had decided to make a sort of dramatic leave after the _big revelation _on how using my auras were pretty much the same as using up my life. I was surprised - not too surprised - but enough so that they were able to make their getaway without me noticing. When I did notice though I ran out of the room, determined to find them and then found myself at the Receptionist Area. From then on its history.

But going back to the base, it turns out that the entire Headquarters was underground. All three levels of it. Or at least, that's what was shown on the map. Who knows, there could be maybe a dozen more hidden ones.

However, the Resistance was not only big in its base size but in something else too.

"Oh hey look it's that girl Brighton carried in earlier!" A voice called out from behind me.

I turned in surprise to see two teens, a girl and a boy walking towards me. Both were wearing casual clothes. The guy jogged ahead and stuck out his hand for me to shake. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Terrence. I hope we'll be able to work well together." He was around seventeen years old and had spiky black hair paired with yellow eyes that were a darker shade from Light's. They also didn't glow like his did.

The hand that I had raised to shake his hand stopped abruptly after hearing the last part he said. I tilted my head to the side. He thought that I was…?

"Terrence." The girl standing next to him snapped in warning. I raised an eyebrow at her and she pulled him back a couple of steps to whisper into his ear. Frowning, I tried to subtly angle my head to better hear them. What happened next surprised me.

"-Mage Candidate. She probably won't be around for very long so what's the point in getting to know her?" Her voice was loud and clear, just as if she was talking normal in front of me.

I watched in amazement as the two turned to look at me. The movement almost seemed slow to my eyes and I made sure to mask the surprise on my face to innocent curiosity.

The conversation between them continued and I belatedly wondered why I could hear them so well now. That whole slow movement was odd too…

"That's me. Sorry, is it bothering you?" Star inquired and I glanced behind me to see only the receptionist woman and Star. The latter of the two was sitting on the receptionist desk, the former being completely unaware of the latter's actions.

I froze for a second. First of all how did she know what was bothering me? And secondly where did the other two go?

A light bulb turned on in my head. Oh yeah that's right. My auras were pretty much my mind. Of course they'd be able to read into it.

Taking that information into account I tried to project my thoughts to her.

_What do you mean that's 'you'? Are you talking about the hearing and sight? And where are Tempest and Light?_

Star's soft and calm voice resounded in my mind. _Yes. My… Ability as an aura I guess you can say is to enhance the senses along with boosting power. _There was a silent pause and I marveled over the fact how I could literally feel her presence in my mind. It was kind of cool actually. _Tempest and Light are running around the base to find out who can find Brighton and the others first._

I frowned. _But the woman said…_

_We're just trying to find out if she told the truth. I don't understand their little competition though. If it's a race then it's obvious that Light will win. _My attention went back to the two teens in front of me. They were still talking and I tried to mentally shut out their conversation so I could focus on my own mental conversation with Star. Surprisingly it worked and I couldn't hear them as well anymore.

_That must be because Light's ability is speed right? So he's faster. _

Much like how I could feel Star's presence in my mind I could now feel her surprise. _How did you know that? That wasn't a lucky guess you… You knew._

Now I couldn't help but feel surprised. And a bit confused too. _You can't look into my memories?_

_No no, we can't look into your memories. We can't even really read your mind. It's more like… We can hear the thoughts you project out, whether consciously or unconsciously. _

"Ah… I see." I murmured under my breath, my eyes to the floor. That was an interesting revelation.

"See look! She's already gotten the drug. Any moment now she'll start going crazy."

My head snapped up and I winced at the amount of dislike I could feel coming from Star through our mental connection.

"Um, excuse me?" I tried and bit the inside of my cheek at the fierce glare the girl was giving me.

Terrence rolled his eyes and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Apologize Bailey. That wasn't something nice to say to…"

"Eliza." I piped up with a smile. A nice innocent smile that seemed to only irk Bailey even more. What was her problem?

"You're a Battle Mage candidate aren't you? I can't believe how power-hungry you are at your age already." Bailey sneered.

"Why you…" Star growled from behind me and I loudly projected _calm down _in my thoughts. She seemed to get the message and settled down.

Bailey on the other hand seemed to only get more and more agitated. She opened her mouth again, no doubt to hurl another insult at me when Terrence roughly grabbed by her shoulder and they met eyes.

"That's _enough_. Apologize to Eliza _right now_. You're tormenting an eight year old girl Bailey. And don't you judge her when you don't know her whole story." Terrence glared at her. She glared back and this continued for about a minute before she turned and walked away with a huff.

So dramatic. And he got my age wrong.

"I'm so sorry about her Eliza."

Terrence was all apologetic and sincere smiles. He seemed like such a nice guy. I wonder how he put up with that other girl, Bailey. She seemed kind of… I'm sure you get the idea.

I shook my head. "No worries. I'm a bit confused by what she was saying though. And you got my age wrong."

His eyes widened and he let out a small laugh. "Ah yeah, sorry it was just a guess. If you don't mind me asking how old are you actually then. Not to be a creep or anything though."

"Nine." Was my immediate answer but then I remembered that my birthday was yesterday. "Ten actually. I turned ten yesterday."

Terrence whistled. "Seven years younger than me, I'm not too much of a creep for talking to you then right?"

I laughed and so did he for a couple of seconds before he continued the conversation.

"So, uh. You said you were confused right? About what?"

We were walking now. I wasn't sure where to, I was just walking wherever and Terrence seemed fine with following me. Star on the other hand had briefly whispered into my ear before disappearing with a _pop_. She said something along the lines of going to get the two troublemakers.

"Well the 'power hungry' thing sounded very odd to me. And the general dislike to Battle Mage candidates too. I don't understand that." I spoke honestly, my eyes roaming around the different walls we passed. They weren't really bare. Pictures, photos, drawings were all taped on to it. Most of them didn't look like they were professionally done but there were few here and there that looked exceptionally good in my eye.

Overall it mostly reminded me of an elementary school classroom. I would know of course, being an elementary school student.

"Eh? You haven't heard about it? How long have you been in the Resistance Eliza?"

I clicked my tongue. "Call me Eli. And not long, not ever actually." At his confused look I elaborated. "I'm not part of the Resistance. My first day here was yesterday when uh… Brighton brought me in."

"Really?"

"Really." I smiled slightly. "But don't worry, I'm not like a bad person or anything."

Terrence smiled. "I trust Brighton to not bring a bad person or anything into the base so I don't doubt you a bit."

That caused me to smile too. "Mind telling me about him? I only met him yesterday."

Terrence once again turned to me in surprise. "Seriously? Well okay, I guess I can do that. But first I think I should answer your first question first."

"Fine by me."

He smiled before sitting down on the floor next to a wall. We were in a long hallway, no one else was in sight. I looked down at him in curiosity. "It might take a bit." He said by way of explanation.

I shrugged and took a seat by him, but not too close of course.

"To start off… Battle Mage candidates are disliked because to put it simply, they don't stick around." He looked at me sadly and I waved away his concern. "I'm not a Battle Mage candidate." Or at least I didn't think I was. I kind of wanted to be though.

Terrence seemingly gave up on being surprised at me and just gave me a look like, _you're telling me about it later_ to which I nodded casually. Sure, why not. I didn't see anything bad about telling him anyways.

"They mainly don't stick around due to the drug they have to take in order to meet the requirements to at least start the training to become a Battle Mage. Do you know about how they uh…" He trailed off and looked at me half in uncertainty and the other half in anticipation.

"I know that must go insane from taking the drug." I stated simply.

He smiled, then frowned, probably realizing that our topic wasn't really a smiley one. "Well, that's basically why they're disliked. No one other than those people really desperate for power decide to become a candidate after hearing those things. It's... I guess the easiest to get into of the three Resistance jobs in a way."

"Resistance jobs?" I questioned him.

"Oh yeah, just like how there are… five? Yeah I think it's five different Adventurer jobs you can take up on Victoria Island there are three Resistance jobs you can try here. There's Battle Mage, as you are familiar with, and then there's Wild Hunter and Mechanic. I'm a mechanic by the way. It's the best job in my opinion." He grinned at me.

I huffed. "Sounds biased to me. But how is Battle Mage the easiest to get in to? There's that whole taking the drug thing and then _surviving it _too."

"Well… It works like this. To be a Mechanic you need to be good with machines along with some other stuff. For Wild Hunters you need to be compatible with the Wild Hunter partners which are Jaguars and be able to shoot and aim stuff. Battle Mages on the other hand are practically handed their powers. You just need to be able to handle the transformation process aka the drug."

That made sense. Kind of I guess. "But what about actually controlling the power?"

Terrence's face scrunched up. "Well for that part… There's only been one successful Battle Mage other than Brighton that I know of. A guy who was able to survive the drug a year or two before? I never saw him but apparently he was able to easily control whatever magic Battle Mages used which caused an increase in people wanting to be able to get that power. Guess what else increased though too after that though."

"Hospital visits?"

"Bingo!" He stood up and stretched. I followed after him quickly. "That's basically it. So mind letting me in on your story now? Doesn't seem like a story a normal ten-year old would have."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you talking about? I'm as normal a ten-year old as you can get."

He laughed at me. I laughed at myself too.

* * *

After filling him on the details of my little adventure the day before (how I ended up at the Resistance Headquarters minus all that aura stuff because that's a bit more personal) I realized that our feet had unconsciously led us to the cafeteria. Terrence was ecstatic.

"Sweet, we can get some food now come on Eliza!" He grinned, running up to the food counter. My stomach growled in response and I shrugged.

"Is the food free? I don't have any money on me."

Terrence gave out a loud exaggerated sigh. "It's not free but just this once I'll pay for you okay?"

"Okay, so what's the most expensive thing on the menu?"

"Eliza!"

I smiled. "Joking. I'll have a slice of chocolate cake."

"Got it, any drinks?" He said after relaying my order to the cashier. I thought about it for a second.

"Just water is good."

He nodded and gestured for me to find a table. The cafeteria was moderately busy. Full of mostly older teenagers like Terrence and young adults. I got more than my fair share of curious looks but none of them seemed like they were going to pry.

I sat down at a table near one of the walls and away from majority of the other people. No one seemed to pay much attention to me anymore, too absorbed into their own conversations with others and etc. I took the time waiting for Terrence to get the food to do some people watching.

There were about twenty three other people in the cafeteria and they were all dressed in casual clothes. Some were actually eating food while others weren't. For a base full of people going against the Black Wings who were pretty much our next door neighbors it seemed quite peaceful.

"People watching? You seem like the type to I guess." I looked up to see Terrence smiling at me while holding a tray full of food. He placed down my cake and water in front of me while taking the seat opposite of me.

"What made you think that? And wow that's a lot of food." I nodded towards his tray which included a plate that was filled with spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread and a smaller plate of salad with a strawberry smoothie.

Terrence took a big slurp of his smoothie before digging into his spaghetti. He talked in between bites. "Just a feeling. And hey, I'm a growing boy you know?"

"Yeah…" I trailed off, taking a bite of my cake. We sat in comfortable silence. Both of us eating our food while just enjoying each other's company.

Or at least we were, then suddenly there was a _pop _and my three auras were suddenly there to the side of me.

"What the-?" I was cut off my Light's rapid fire talk.

"They're coming! Right now. We didn't realize they were heading to you because we thought you were still at the Reception desk. They look angry."

My brows furrowed. "They?" Not a second after that the doors of the cafeteria burst open and in came the Resistance Crew. Immediately all the people in the room, including Terrence, sans me stood up and saluted.

For some reason I found it funny. I managed not to laugh though, pat on the back for me for accomplishing that.

"Eliza." Brighton's voice sounded _very _angry. Not sure why though. Was it because I left the room when I was told not to? That was their fault for leaving after announcing something like that. They didn't really think I'd _sit and wait _for them did they?

All those thoughts went through my mind in a few seconds and by the end of it all I could really think to do in response to Brighton was to raise my hand in a sort of half wave. "Hello. Welcome back." I said in a somewhat monotone voice.

Tempest and the rest of the occupants in the cafeteria looked at me in surprise. Light and Star were snickering. Tempest looked like he wanted to face palm.

A second passed and there was a blue light next to me before I felt a hand on my arm and the wind rushed past me as my vision was encompassed in blue. The next thing I knew I was back in the room I was in… a couple of hours ago? I wasn't sure how much time had passed.

I was placed on the bed and I attempted a smile towards the Resistance Crew standing just a few feet in front of me. They looked really mad.

"What did you think you were doing?" Claudine snapped at me. I flinched a little before looking down at my feet. Then I blinked and looked up at them with a real smile because hey, they were the good guys. What was the worse they could do to me?

"That's good thinking." Star popped into existence on my right of the bed. Light popped in on my left and Tempest took to leaning against the wall.

"They're here aren't they?" Brighton noted. Confusion hit me for a second before I realized who he meant.

I nodded. "They are. They warned me you guys were coming actually. And that you were really mad. Kind of a late warning though." I glared at the three of them slightly to which they shrugged simultaneously.

Belle stepped forward, her eyes were wide in surprise. "Warned you…?"

"Oh, they just kind of popped in while I was eating with a friend and told me you guys were mad and were coming at me."

"Popped in?" Checky.

"Uh… Teleport I guess?" I looked at Light to which he nodded.

Brighton stepped forward now. "They aren't constantly at your side?" His eyes moving around the room trying to find them. He didn't seem to be having much luck though.

I shook my head. "Is that strange?"

"My auras were practically glued to me. They said that since they use my life energy to manifest they needed to be near me at all times." He shook his head. "It was kind of creepy."

A giggle escaped me and I projected a thought to the three of them. _We're talking about this later kay?_

I received positive responses back but they sounded as confused as I was. Why were Brighton's auras like that? And why weren't mine the same way as his were?

"But back on what we originally brought you here for… You disobeyed orders. _My _orders." Claudine crossed her arms over her chest and I avoided eye contact deliberately, choosing to instead look at Tempest. His eye color was really pretty.

"You should probably focus on them." He noted and teleported behind me, laying on top of the bed.

I frowned and tried to ignore Light's yelling of _why do you get to lie down on the bed?_

Key word _tried_.

"You tell me to focus but then you make all this noise. Really guys?" I lectured them while turning my head to see Light and Tempest wrestling behind me. I was just lucky that the bed was pretty big and that me and Star were sitting at the edge. Otherwise they might have pushed us off. Or would they just go through me since they were manifestations of aura? Eh, no need to worry about that at the moment.

The two boys sent me their apologies and settled down. I turned back in front of me to see the Resistance Crew looking at me in amusement. Claudine still looked a little pissed off though.

"Your auras seem… Interesting." Brighton seemed to smile a little.

"I kind of wish I could see them." Belle said almost to herself. Brighton gave a sharp glance to her and she sighed.

I frowned. "There isn't some way to make it so that you guys can see them?"

"There is but… It uses up a lot more life energy." He confessed hesitantly.

I couldn't help it. A grin made its way on to my face and the others in the room sans my auras looked slightly alarmed. "That's awesome. How can I do that?"

Originally after finding out that only I could see them I was a bit depressed. I wanted to introduce them to Evan. I think they'd like him.

"Evan?" Tempest inquired.

"A friend. A good friend who I met a couple of years ago. He doesn't live around here but we still keep in touch." My grin faded into a sincere and thoughtful smile. I wonder when I'll be able to see him again. Writing letters was nice but seeing each other in person would be absolutely fantastic.

Belle coughed to get my attention and then sighed, dramatically this time. "If only it didn't use up a lot of life energy. Hearing one-sided conversations is weird."

"Well if you just tell me how to replenish the life energy I'm losing then we're all set right?"

Their faces snapped up to see mines and I blinked. They blinked back. Then there was some slightly controlled chaos.

"How do you know that?"

"Who told you?"

"Do you have any idea what you're implying?"

They were yelling and making hand motions and there were so much questions. I didn't understand what was the big deal about my question. It was a reasonable one right? And it wasn't like I was stupid or anything. They should know that already. Of course I'd be able to connect the dots to something like that.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming along. Miraculously the loud voices stopped. I opened my eyes again to see them all looking at me.

"Um… One question at a time?" I tried. I ran my hand through my hair, wincing at the tangles it got caught through.

Claudine went first after a short stare-off with Brighton. "How did you know that there was a way to replenish the life energy you're losing?"

"Well," I gestured towards Brighton. "He's still alive and he uses his auras, therefore his life energy is being used a lot. He doesn't look like he's going to die anytime soon so the logical conclusion is that there's a way to replenish the life energy he uses up when he uses his auras."

"That could be explained by only using a little of life energy when using auras." Belle piped in.

I shook my head. "But then Brighton wouldn't be so worried about my auras using up my life energy."

"How interesting of you to make that connection." Checky sounded like he was smiling. It was weird. Why did he have to wear that bear suit? And why did his voice sound so young? It's nothing like I imagined it to be.

Biting the inside of my cheek I rid myself of those thoughts before responding. "I'm not stupid.I like to think I'm pretty smart actually."

"You're the smartest in your grade. Maybe even in the entire school." Claudine added in.

I looked at her cautiously. "No I'm not. I don't score _that _high on tests."

She seemed unconvinced. "It's not that hard to tell that you miss questions on purpose."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know."

"Good." She was smirking now. I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and fall back down on to the bed and just _sleep_.

I swear these people. They weren't _normal_. Not like I was one to talk though.

"You definitely aren't one to talk." Star grinned from besides me. _Quiet you._

A loud sigh caught my attention and I looked to see Brighton looking at me in what seemed like resignation.

"Do you really want to become a Battle Mage?"

I paused and thought about it for a moment before smiling. "Yeah of course. I love magic, I want to be able to use it. And I'm not going to get rid of my auras. They're my friends. I might as well become a Battle Mage you know?"

He frowned. I inwardly slapped myself. I sounded way too casual, like I wasn't thinking things through. But I actually was thinking it through.

See, when I really thought about it this was actually a really great opportunity.

I wanted to become stronger. It was the reason why I went out yesterday to go fight those stupid plants.

The Black Mage wasn't weak. My goal was to defeat the Black Mage. Well, maybe not _me _specifically. I was going to leave that to the Heroes mostly. _They _were the really strong people who actually had the power to defeat him. My mind suddenly shifted to Evan. And then to the picture he sent me a couple of weeks ago that Utah took of him fighting (and losing) against one of their pigs that had decided to eat out of his lunch box while he wasn't looking.

They were _going _to have the power to defeat the Black Mage, I amended.

I was just going to help towards his defeat. Probably not fight him directly but… I'd help in whatever ways I could. And to do that I would need power.

Bailey's words rang through my mind suddenly.

_I can't believe how power-hungry you are at your age already._

I pushed those thoughts away and focused. Yes, I needed to become stronger. Right now was an opportunity to get stronger via becoming a Battle Mage. I already had the auras so why not?

"Eliza!"

I was suddenly brought back to reality by Brighton's yell. He looked concerned and I frowned, feeling slightly guilty.

"Sorry about that. I was thinking."

"Thinking?" Belle mimicked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I realized I sounded a bit too casual about that whole becoming a Battle Mage thing so I thought about it a bit more." I looked straight into Brighton's eyes and tried to convey to him my resolve. "I want to become a Battle Mage. Not just because I like magic, or because I'm already maybe halfway there but also because… Because I want to protect those around me. My friends, family, the people who I care about. I want to become stronger so that I can protect them."

By the end of my little speech I could feel myself smiling a little even though I had tried so hard to seem serious. Those words… They sounded just like something a fictional protagonist would say.

Closing my eyes I saw different people flash through my mind. Mom, dad, Zeno, Alishar, Macey, Luke, Evan, Charlotte, Oz, and Alexius.

I didn't want to just stand around and do nothing while knowing that the Black Mage (most likely) would revive soon. I wasn't just going to stand around and let _Evan _fight the Black Mage with the other Heroes. I refused to be a damsel in distress. I was going to help however I could.

We were going to defeat the Black Mage.

And I was going to go home...

Home huh… Just where was home again?

"You're spacing out a lot."

I looked up again to see only Brighton in front of me now. The rest of the Resistance Crew were gone. My auras were still here though. Their presence was comforting against the confusion and uncertainty I was feeling all of a sudden.

"Sorry, just got a lot on my mind." I tried to smile at him. He frowned.

"I understand that you really do want to become a Battle Mage and it might just be the best decision since you obviously don't want to get rid of your auras through Wendelline's drug but…"

Now it was my turn to frown. "But what?"

"You're so young." I made a face at that but he ignored me. "My training is hard, you should enjoy your childhood while it lasts."

I shook my head fiercely. "I know it will be hard but I don't want to wait!" Brighton's expression didn't change and I almost wanted to pull my hair out. He didn't _understand_. And it's not like I could explain it to him either.

"I'll be happy to take you on as an apprentice when you're older Eliza." He stated calmly, patiently. He knew I was upset.

"But by that time a lot of my life energy would be gone wouldn't it be?" I countered. I refused to give up.

He smiled slightly. "Your dark aura should already be taking measures for that. And as long as you're only using your aura to manifest them then you'll be fine until the time comes. When you're older."

I hated that word. _Older_. I was mentally seventeen years old for crying out loud! But it wasn't like anyone actually knew that. Well except for Macey maybe. Did I tell her my real age? Hm…

"You'll be leaving the base in about an hour. We've told your parents that you had caught an extremely contagious disease and so Dr. Claudine took the liberty of taking care of you." He was by the door now. It was already open and before stepping outside of the room he turned back to look at me and smiled. "We also decided to add some truth to the story by saying how you decided to sneak out to go adventuring before passing out on the street and being found by Claudine so please play along okay Eli?"

My mouth fell open. "What?" But then he was already gone.

* * *

"I can't believe you missy! You're grounded! You went off adventuring even though you were sick? We were so worried when we couldn't find you in your room when we came to check up on you. You're lucky that Dr. Claudine found you passed out in the streets before some stranger picked you up!"

I _really _hated Brighton. And Claudine too. She must have agreed to this excuse of theirs after all. They just wanted me to suffer, didn't they?

Mom was lecturing, dad was staring at me looking quite disappointed, and the twins were…

"Yes mom she's a bad girl, we know but c'mon let's open up her birthday presents now okay?" Ali chimed in, walking - no, _skipping _\- into the living room . Zeno followed and was nodding excitedly, his arms full of colorfully wrapped boxes.

"Where did you two- I'm not even going to ask." Dad sounded resigned. Mom looked like she was nearing that too. She opened her mouth, probably to conclude that lecture of hers but Ali shushed her. Mom gave her a look and Ali beamed, all smiles and rainbows. Mom just shrugged and took a seat next to dad on the couch.

I needed to learn how she did that. Especially considering the plans that I had in mind for the future.

_You're screwed. I don't know how you're going to make it work._

I inwardly sighed. _Quiet Light, I need to make sure to act normal around my family. I don't want them bringing me to the hospital or something. Oh goddess, I don't even want to imagine how Claudine would be like._

_Yeah yeah. _

Right now my auras were all up in my room. Brighton and Claudine had made it specifically clear that I couldn't converse with my auras (not out loud at least) when surrounded by other people who weren't part of the Resistance. And even then, they'd prefer for it to be around only the top Resistance members aka the Resistance Crew themselves.

Apparently my auras had super amazing hearing (but Star had the best) and so were listening in on the conversation from my room and were giving some _very _unneeded commentary every so often.

But back to reality, I looked at the boxes Zeno was holding in slight apprehension. Not only because I was nervous yet excited to find out what my friends and family got me but because they looked like they were going to fall-

Oh, too late.

"Oh my goddess I'm _so _sorry sis!" Zeno squeaked. Mom and dad shook their heads and Ali put her hands on her hips. I sighed.

"Ah, don't worry about it. But uh, could you help me gather them around by the table?" I said while walking over to the pile and picking a few of them up.

Zeno smiled. "Of course!" And after a couple of minutes we managed to transfer all of the boxes on to the living room table.

The next hour or so was spent opening the birthday presents from both my friends along with family.

Macey got me what looked like the _Emerald Staff _from Maple Story. She claimed that it would work well with what Mr. Carol got me. Of course they would coordinate their gifts.

Alishar made me a homemade silver charm bracelet with five charms on it, a heart, spade, diamond, clover, and the letter A. Zeno likewise made me a silver charm necklace with the infinity symbol, a star, and the letter Z.

From my parents I got new clothes. None of which were blue thank the goddess, I had way too much blue in my wardrobe already.

Luke gave me black leather gloves (adjustable ones that would last long) while noting that they would look cool with Macey's present.

Evan's gift came in a very small box. I was confused at first, wondering what his supposed 'payback' for me was. Then I opened it and understood. It was a beautiful ring and resembled the evolving ring from the game. There was only one problem, three actually. It was blue, it was too big for me, and if I wore it someone would no doubt try to steal it from me. It looked that expensive. Which brings me to the point of, how did he get it?

Oz and Team Dork's gift was a black backpack with 'artsy' paint splatters as a design and inspirational words like _believe _written on it. The bag itself was enchanted and could fit a lot more than it seemed while still being quite light. Anything placed in there could be called upon by just sticking a hand in and thinking of what you wanted. It was an absolute must have for any adventurer and I was psyched and thankful that I wouldn't have to pay a pricey amount to get one.

Alex made me almost a dozen of beaded bracelets with different color schemes so that they would 'go with whatever outfit I decided to wear.' Ali then threw a fit after seeing it and demanded that I only wear the bracelet she made me.

Charlotte (surprisingly) got me a pair of black combat boots. My parents were horrified, the twins were amazed, and I was disappointed because they were too big for me. I'd probably be able to use them in a couple of years though, and that would be when I'd need them the most.

I received other small trinkets from classmates and some of the townspeople and although they were quite nice, they weren't exactly worth mentioning.

After opening my presents I started towards my bedroom. But not before mom reminded that I was grounded and wasn't allowed out of the house by myself. I almost wanted to frown at her for that, it definitely put a damper on my plans. I could make do though, just had to fix and adjust some parts.

With those thoughts in my head I opened my bedroom door and was met with the sight of my auras all knocked out on my bed.

Huh, I was wondering why they were so quiet while I was opening presents.

Quietly making my way to my bed I sighed at seeing that they were taking up all the space. While my bed wasn't exactly small it wasn't large either. Shrugging I pulled out an extra blanket and pillow from my closet and made myself comfortable on the floor. I didn't want to disturb their sleep, they looked so comfortable and at peace.

Taking in a deep breath I closed my eyes and decided to talk to them about my plan after sleeping for a bit.

I'll worry about everything else later. Right now, sleep sounded absolutely wonderful.

* * *

**Ha ha... Hey guys.**

**Okay so I'm really sorry about how long this chapter took. **

**But I _will _make it up to you guys this time. I'm on Fall Break now so I'm just going to be writing away every single day of break. I kind of want to go for daily updates but that's kind of pushing it. I'm hoping for every other day? Well I promise nothing but that's what I want to happen.**

**I plan to at least finish up this arc during the break. Yes, I said this _arc_. For this fic there are many different arcs. So far I've finished two arcs. The first was the Edelstein Arc and the second was the Victoria Island Road Trip Arc._  
_**

**The reason why I said in my profile that I can't see myself completing this story anytime soon is because of the sheer number of arcs there are. I won't say the exact number but there's _a lot_. **

**But don't worry, I'm never giving up on this story and that's a promise that I'm 100% sure I'll keep. **

**If you have any questions, comments or anything feel free to tell me them in a review or just PM me. Things may seem a bit confusing right now but I'll try and fix that in later chapters. **

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Back to the Base/Time to break some rules**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 9/8/14**

**Finished Writing: 10/5/14 (Crap that was almost an entire month...)**


	16. They're not at all normal

Past The Screen

_Chapter Sixteen_

**(Note: Lots of explanation in this chapter)**

* * *

"...za...Eli...Eliza!"

My eyes snapped open and I sat up straight on my carpeted floor.

Wait, floor? I looked down and saw that I was actually sitting on the floor. Why was I on the floor and not my bed?

A quick glance at my bed answered that question. My auras looked like they were still asleep but if the soft mumbling and groans I was hearing were any indication they were starting to wake up.

"Look over here young lady."

I turned to see my mom at the door with her hands on her hips and a displeased expression on her face.

"Uh… Morning mom?" I tried to laugh a bit to relieve the tension in the air. It didn't work.

"It's eight at night." Mom said through clenched teeth. That's not good.

I scratched my cheek. "Oh. Good evening?"

Mom let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you Eliza."

"Not ground me? What are you so mad about anyways?"

She frowned. "Well first of all you're sleeping on the floor when you have a perfectly good bed just a couple of feet away. And secondly you were sleeping. You know I don't like you taking long naps, it messes up your sleeping schedule."

I brought my knees up and laid my chin on them. "Couldn't help it, I was tired." My stomach growled. "And now I'm hungry. I can't believe I slept through lunch."

"You slept through dinner too missy." Mom reprimanded but still came over by me to help me get up. I brushed off some invisible dirt off my pants before pushing her slightly out the door.

"Yeah so I'm like twice as hungry now. Let's go to the kitchen so I can get food." I spoke rapidly with a lot of energy despite feeling groggy from my long nap. When we finally reached the door I made sure mom was already outside of it before taking one last look into the room to see Star sitting up from her spot on the bed.

_I'm going to get something to eat and then I'll come back. We all need to talk after that so be ready._

_Okay Eli. _

With that being said - or thought actually - I continued to push mom to the kitchen to find a slice of sausage pizza waiting for me on the table.

"I didn't really feel like cooking tonight so we ordered pizza." Mom informed me before heading towards the fridge.

I sat down at the table and ate my pizza happily and then thanking mom when she placed a glass of water in front of me. Soon enough I finished off the pizza and frowned when I noticed that I still felt hungry. I opened my mouth to ask if there was any more pizza when all of a sudden a huge slice of triple chocolate ice cream cake was placed in front of me. My favorite kind of cake.

"Mom! You got this for me? Thanks so much!" I chattered on excitedly, already digging into the wonderful dessert.

"Of course I got this for you, this is your birthday cake." Mom said as she took her seat by the table.

My fork stopped halfway from my mouth and my smile fell slightly. "Oh yeah…" I missed my birthday party. That sucked.

I looked up at her, ready to apologize but she shook her head. "Don't worry about it right now sweetie. Just enjoy your birthday cake."

While eating the cake I enjoyed small talk with mom. She told me that I wasn't grounded (because she knew that it wouldn't work anyway) but made me promise to stay safe. I agreed wholeheartedly.

It just wouldn't do to run into the Black Wings again right?

After finishing up my cake I said goodnight to mom before going back to my room. Upon entering I couldn't help but sigh.

"Really guys?" I said, gesturing to Tempest and Light's wrestling match on the floor with Star acting as referee.

"Oh hey Eli, we're just finishing up what we were doing before-" Light was cut off by Tempest's sudden jump on his back which pinned him on the floor. "Cheat! I was talking to Eli you cheater!"

"You're the one who said there was no rules so I can't be cheating." Tempest noted gleefully.

Star on the other hand seemed to share my slight exasperation. "Okay that's enough you guys. We've got some important matters to discuss, right Eli?"

I nodded and closed my bedroom door behind me and locking it.

Making my way over to the now unoccupied bed I jumped on it and just laid there for a couple of seconds. Then I sat back up.

"Okay, so we've got some very important things to discuss right?" I clapped my hands together and looked at all of them in the eye.

"Right." Tempest nodded and the other two did the same. I waited for them to arrange themselves into comfortable positions on the floor before starting again.

"What I want to talk about is what Brighton was saying about how apparently Star should be working on the whole you guys using up my life energy-" I paused and saw Star fidget a little before biting her lip. She seemed like she was thinking hard about something. "And also about how you guys aren't glued to me like how Brighton's auras were-" Now they were all fidgeting. "And lastly my super awesome plan that you all will help me with." I finished off with a charismatic grin. Or at least I think it was a charismatic grin.

My auras exchanged smiles after hearing my last sentence before remembering what I was first talking about, then they became a lot more serious.

"I guess… I'll be going first then." Star volunteered and I nodded towards her. She took a deep breath before starting.

"About that whole using up your life energy Eli… When we were trying to find Brighton and the others this morning we found them outside the town borders." At hearing this my eyes widened in surprise. "Brighton was fighting some monsters, the rest were standing around. It was odd, they were all quiet. We were about to leave when I noticed something, we all did actually. We saw how Brighton used his auras to fight. However he didn't just use the auras to fight, he used it to move around, defend, and… To absorb life energy from what he was attacking." She paused and looked at me, slightly nervous.

I knew I was frowning slightly. I was trying to piece things together but I needed more information. I gestured for her to continue and she obliged.

"The way he absorbed life energy was by using his Dark Aura. It… Drained the life energy from monsters and was absorbed into him instead of just being released into the air. I think he used a specific spell to get this result because I've tried to do what his Dark Aura did to get life energy for you but it's not nearly as effective."

Hm… "What did you try to get life energy from?" I asked her.

Star thought for a moment before answering. "It was during the trip to your house from the base. I was trying to get life energy from plants."

"How were you trying?"

There was a pause again as she thought about it. "My ability as dark aura improves the senses and power. Since it's dark in element it also tends to drain away any light, and therefore life near it. It's also the reason why out of the three auras you have manifested I'm the one that drains your life energy the most. Just by being near other living things I can drain away their life energy. However it usually only happens very gradually. In your case it's just a matter of taking that drained energy and instead of letting it being released into the air, I make it so that it goes into you to be absorbed and used as your own life energy."

An idea occurred in my head. "So… Theoretically if you kept doing that and replacing the life energy I lose, does that mean I'll be immortal?"

Star looked at me funny. So did the other two. "No Eli, that won't happen. Think of it this way, there's two ways for you to die. Naturally and unnaturally. A natural death is dying of old age. An unnatural death is anything else. Your life energy revolves around your natural death. The less life energy you have, the sooner you'll die since you'll run out quicker. Just by existing you're using up a little of your life energy and when it finally runs out, that's when you die. By using your auras you're using up the life energy you have and so the more you use auras the more life energy is used and so the earlier you die. However, each person has a… Let's call it a _container_ that is filled up with life energy. As you age that container gets smaller and smaller. Even if I return life energy you lose from using your auras I can only give you back the amount of life energy that there is space for in your container. The container is always getting smaller bit by bit and so there will come a time when the container becomes so small that there is no more space for life energy and then poof. You die. And there's no way to give you anymore life energy to live since the container is already pretty much closed."

Star took in a deep breath and I applauded her for being able to say all that in one breath. She must have some pretty strong lungs.

"I'm sorry, was that confusing? Did it make sense? I'm not very good at explaining things." She looked at me worriedly and I gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't worry I understood it. Or at least I got the gist of it." I reassured her. She beamed and fell back on to the floor and let out a relieved sigh.

I turned to Tempest and Light. "So either of you two got any theories about why you're not stuck to me like glue?" I asked them.

They both looked at each other for a couple of seconds then stuck out a fist. Then proceeded to do rock-paper-scissors.

Light won, and Tempest was designated the task of giving out his theory.

"Well… I can't say for sure but I think why we're not glued to you like how Brighton's auras were to him is because your life energy is rather… Different." He said and then glanced at me. I motioned for him to explain and he nodded. "Most people's life energy is compacted into themselves, their bodies. But yours… It's very loose. It's not so much compacted as it is just contained around your general area. And even then, it still moves around. It's like your energy has a hard time anchoring itself to your body for some reason. Another way to explain it I guess is that your soul is not entirely anchored to your body since that's where the uh, container full of life energy is stored pretty much. Which is really weird…" He explained and frowned towards the end.

I felt my body go cold for a second before I recollected my bearings and tried to manage a smile to Tempest. He didn't look convinced, neither did Star and Crescent. I closed my eyes and tried very hard to block out my current thoughts from them. They didn't know about my soul transfer of sorts. I wanted to keep it that way, for now at least. It was a lot to explain.

Shaking my head slightly I focused. My soul not being entirely anchored to my body? Sounds like a side effect of having my soul being transferred into this body. Maybe my soul wasn't completely compatible with this body or something?

"Wait, that doesn't explain why you guys aren't stuck to me like glue?" I questioned after realizing that during my thoughts. Tempest got an _oh yeah_ look on his face and opened his mouth to continue his explanation when Light started explaining for him.

"Since we use your life energy to manifest that means we need to take life energy from you. I believe in Brighton's auras case they stayed near him to draw life energy from him. His life energy was probably compacted into his body and so in order to get life energy they needed to constantly be by his side. In our case though, since your life energy is so… loose and not all that connected to your body we can extend our reach in some cases to drain the life energy that floats around you. Or if we're going pretty far from you we just take some with us and drain from that..." He trailed off and paused for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened. "But we don't keep it of course! We return what we didn't use back to you when we're within your area again."

That caused a small laugh to escape me. "Don't worry, I trust you guys to not horde my life energy."

Star frowned. "You could at least sound a bit worried. This is your _life _energy we're talking about." She said while putting a lot of emphasis on the word _life_.

"Yeah well… I don't really like to worry about things in general. I worry only when necessary." I nodded to myself with a smile.

Light seemed exasperated. "So your life energy being drained _isn't _something necessary to worry about?"

"Star's taking care of that so no need to worry about it right?" I shrugged. Star made a face at me and shook her head.

"I can't drain that much life energy at a fast pace. You're technically still losing more than I'm giving back to you."

"Well that won't really matter as long as my plan works out. And my plan _will _work out. I'll make it work out." I informed them with a small grin.

My plan was quite simple actually. Or at least I thought it was simple.

The name of the plan was 'CBBM' or 'Convince Brighton to let me be a Battle Mage.' I would've thought of a more creative name but we were short on time at the moment. I wanted to start training as soon as possible after all.

* * *

The first step of the plan was to get back to the Resistance Base.

"You guys remember where it is right? I was blindfolded on the trip home so I have no idea where it is." I asked them mentally as I climbed out of my bedroom window and out on to the grassy yard. The streets were empty but I knew that there were probably a couple of Black Wings people walking around looking for anyone breaking curfew. I stuck close to the wall of my house and made sure to stay as quiet as possible.

The three auras jumped through the window with ease and Star decided to answer my question. "Of course, there's actually an entrance not too far from here. However the Black Wings are a problem… They're patrolling this area right now. Not to mention it's also night-time. You sure you don't want to wait till tomorrow to start the plan?"

I shook my head and frowned. It would probably be harder to get into the base during the day. And most of the occupants would be awake too. I turned to look at Light. "Your specialty is speed right?"

He nodded and instantly saw where I was going with this. "That'll use up quite a bit of your life energy though. And you'll feel tired because you're not used to using your auras in that way."

I smiled at him. "Don't worry, I know. Let's just go already." I grabbed on to his arm and was moderately surprised it was in fact solid. After taking a deep breath I closed my eyes and felt my feet leave the ground before I felt my body being abruptly pulled forward and to the side. My fingers were clenched in a death grip on Light's arm and were the only thing stopping me from falling face first into the floor when I felt my legs give out underneath me when the pulling stopped suddenly. I opened my eyes with a slight gasp.

A quick look at my surroundings showed that we were in an alley. (Bad memories, ugh.) My auras were crowded around me in concern. I loosened my grip on Light's arm and tried to take a step forward and promptly fell. Tempest caught me by my arm and he placed me on a wooden box nearby.

"That… could have gone worse." Tempest commented as I tried to regain my breath. I was so tired now, it felt like I had run a marathon.

"Worse?" I said in between deep, but quiet breaths. I hadn't forgotten that there were Black Wings patrolling.

Light let out a sigh and leaned against the wall where my box was. "You could be passed out. I think you actually did lose conscious for maybe a second or two on our way here though. Star was draining life energy from practically anything green and forcing it into you."

"Did that really use up so much life energy? We didn't even go that far." I questioned, slightly confused. Why was I so tired? This was a completely unexpected development.

"It didn't use up a lot of life energy however it did drain the little bit it used very quickly. You aren't used to losing your life energy that fast and that's why you feel so tired now. It's only temporary though, you'll be back to normal soon." Light explained and I realized that I was in fact already feeling a lot better than before.

Slowly I got down from the box and took a closer look around my surroundings. It was just a normal alley. How were we supposed to enter the base from here?

"Over here." Star called and I looked to see her standing by an old vending machine.

Was that really…

She pressed some buttons on it and _very quietly _the vending machine door slid open to reveal that there wasn't actually any junk food inside. Instead there was an elevator. A very dark elevator with no lights on what-so-ever.

"There is no way I'm going in that." I announced quietly, backing away slightly from the creepy elevator. It reminded me way too much of a horror movie I saw back on Earth. I vividly remembered not wanting to sleep alone in my room so Riley came to sleep over for a while.

"Riley?" Tempest questioned. I froze slightly and tried to smile at him, suddenly eager to get into the elevator. I forgot they could hear my thoughts. Why did I have to project that out? I didn't even mean to.

"Ah… Just someone I knew." I said while already making my way over to Star.

Light jogged to catch up to me with Tempest following soon after. I cursed mentally. "You never mentioned a Riley." Light noted, but it didn't sound like he was going to pry. I was thankful for that, right now wasn't the time to talk about it.

As soon as I reached Star and the creepy elevator I noticed that it wasn't… _Really_creepy. It was clean, and didn't stink. The metal was shiny too.

"So do I just stand in there and it'll take me to the base?" I asked, but as soon as I finished I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Star shook her head. "It needs to be activated by a Resistance member first."

My face fell. Crap. How were we supposed to do that?

A soft chuckle caught my attention and I turned around to see both Tempest and Light smiling. I looked at them cautiously. "What did you two do?"

"Nothing really. We just might have borrowed something from your…. friend." Light smiled innocently at me. I blinked. Friend? Wait… Was he talking about-?

Something white was thrown at me and I caught it before it hit my face. Under the light of the moon and stars along with my auras glowing eyes I was able to read what was on the card.

_Terrence Reyes_

_Age 17_

_Position: Level 2 Mechanic_

"You took his Resistance card? When?" I asked them in surprise.

"While you were sleeping." Light informed me with a cheery smile. I almost wanted to hit him. _Almost_.

Shaking my head I stepped into the elevator and motioned for Star to come in with me. I had no idea how to operate it after all. She took the card from my hand and inserted it into a small slot underneath the level buttons. She then pressed the button saying _C1_. There was a small vibration and the doors started to close. Before they did though I made sure to tell Light,

"We're returning it you got that? We aren't going to keep it."

He had the nerve to answer me with a, "Sure we are Eli."

* * *

Step two of the plan was to find Brighton.

"How do you know he's even at the base? What if he's at his actual home?" Tempest asked as we walked through a long hallway. It was only him and Star with me at the moment. Light was zipping through the base trying to find where Brighton was.

I shook my head in response to his question. "He knows me. Or at least, he knows that I'm stubborn. Although he's probably not a hundred percent sure, he at least has a feeling that I'll be showing up here to convince him to make me his apprentice."

"You know I don't understand his excuse of 'wait until you're older.' Like, what does that have to do with learning magic? Sure his training might be hard but you look like you're more than willing to endure it." Star spoke honestly and I could detect a slight amount of annoyance in her tone.

I kept quiet and thought about it for a couple of seconds before replying to Star's statement. "Maybe he's just trying to test my resolve? To see how far I'm willing to go to become a Battle Mage. And well he does have a point. I'm pretty young. I'm not even a teenager, I'm a kid."

"Physically." Tempest stated simply. My head snapped to look at him, my eyes were wide but he only looked ahead calmly. "You're only physically a kid. Mentally I'm sure you're already a teenager. You're mature enough after all."

"Just because I'm mature doesn't mean-" I was cut off by Star this time.

"Your thoughts Eli. Although we can only hear bits and pieces sometimes but it's enough for us to connect some dots."

I sighed, giving up already. "We'll talk about this later."

"We've done a lot of talking lately huh." Tempest seemed to smile a little. I tried to trip him but he stepped over my leg without even looking.

There was a _pop _and Light was in front of us. "Found him. He's with the rest of the Resistance Crew in some room a floor underneath us."

I beamed. "Great, let's go."

Light shook his head and I frowned.

"What's wrong?"

He took in a deep breath before speaking. "There's a bunch of guards. They're standing in the hall, guarding the door. Brighton and the others are having some _really _important meeting. It's not just them either - two other higher ranked people in the Resistance seem to be there too."

Tapping my foot on the floor I closed my eyes and groaned quietly.

"Any chance that they'll be done soon?" I asked hopefully.

Light shook his head again and I hissed. "What are they talking about anyways?"

They all looked at me with slight shades of amusement.

"What? Oh come on. You think that I'll just stay quiet and not want to know what top-secret thing they're discussing?" I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed slightly.

Tempest bit his lip and tried to hide a smile. "Of course not. You're too curious for your own good after all."

"Curiosity killed the cat." Star noted, she was smiling too though, as if already knowing my answer to that.

I didn't disappoint her. "And satisfaction brought it back." I quoted from... somewhere on the internet. "And don't cats have like nine lives? But still it's a good thing I'm not a cat then you know."

"I'm pretty sure only one of those answers would have sufficed Eli." Star giggled.

I shrugged, a smile making its way on to my face for a couple of seconds before becoming serious again.

"So really, what were they talking about anyways?"

* * *

The third part of the plan was to convince Brighton. But since he was kind of busy at the moment part three was adjusted and changed to:

Eavesdrop on important meeting and _then _convince Brighton.

"You know I never once thought I'd actually be able to…" I trailed off, not really sure how to phrase it.

"To crawl through an air duct." Star supplied.

I nodded, despite the fact that she couldn't see me. "Yeah. I thought this only happened in like stories and stuff."

Light's voice interrupted my musings. "Focus now, you're almost there Eli. The next opening up ahead should be the one connected to the room they're having their meeting in. Tempest, you're taking care of covering up her aura so Brighton won't notice right?" Light was in serious command mode. It was kind of weird, yet reassuring at the same time.

"Yeah I'm a defense specialist for a reason you know. It's not that hard to cover and block her aura from being seen by others. He shouldn't be able to notice her aura. Especially if he doesn't expect her to be above him in a goddess damn _air duct_." Tempest remarked dryly.

I quickly put a hand over my mouth to stifle giggles. Although I couldn't see any of them - I was the sole person in the air duct while they were already in the meeting room (lucky them for being invisible) - I could pretty much feel Light hitting Tempest on the back of his head.

"Don't giggle Eli! Serious mode c'mon!" Light whined slightly. "No one make her laugh okay? If she makes too much noise they'll hear her and then the plan will be ruined."

That caused me to forcefully close my mouth and bite my cheek in an attempt to stop laughing. It worked, sort of. I continued quietly crawling through the duct and was overjoyed to see a patch of light coming up ahead. I could also kind of hear voices too, soft at first then normal. I could tell that Star was helping me out on that part.

I didn't dare actually look through the vent though, those people in the room below weren't normal after all. They would probably be able to see me even in the darkness of the air duct.

Instead I stayed near it and listened to the flow of the conversation.

"They're not just going to give up." An unknown voice spoke gravely. It was deep in tone, a male probably.

"That poor girl's near kidnapping is just an example of that." A high-pitched, almost squeaky voice said. Damn, they were talking about me huh. And I take offense to that. I'm not just 'some poor girl.' I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I wonder who they were though. Must be high-ranked people in the Resistance like Light said or else they wouldn't be in this meeting.

"That doesn't mean we should attack them." I heard Belle's voice and I felt my stomach drop at what that was implying. They weren't… Planning to attack the Black Wings were they?

"So are we just going to wait for them to attack us then?" The deep voice accused.

There was a sharp intake of breath. "No, of course not! It's just... I don't think we're ready yet. You should all know how our last attack worked out." Belle's voice was quiet but I knew from her tone that she wasn't backing down on this. She was very against attacking and I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"But now we won't be expecting help from cowards." The high-pitched voice reasoned. The bitterness in her tone was obvious. My mind spun as I tried to think about what she might have meant by 'cowards.'

The Cygnus Knights maybe? They had a sort of hate relationship. But wasn't that just because of a misunderstanding? The Resistance asked for help from the Knights but on the day of the invasion Ereve was attacked and so they couldn't help. It was a simple misunderstanding.

I grimaced. Never mind that, the attacking the Black Wings thing was more important. That definitely couldn't end well. They weren't ready, if earlier this morning was anything to go by. Most of the trainees seemed so happy and peaceful.

Did they even have combat experience? In real life fights and not as training?

They wouldn't stand a chance against the Black Wings. Attacking their base was a suicide mission.

And hey… Wasn't the Black Wings actually created to resurrect Lotus, Orchid's brother? Everyone else just _thought _that their goal was to resurrect the Black Mage.

I groaned internally. Why was the Maple World so _complicated?_

"You're saying that she is a potential Battle Mage candidate? Even though she's so young?" I was broken out of my thoughts by the deep voice man. Man, I really wish I knew those two people's names so I could stop calling them 'deep voice' and 'high pitched voice.'

But were they talking about me? Oh who am I kidding of course they were talking about me. Forcing my thoughts out of the way for the moment I focused more intently on the conversation.

"Yes, she shows great potential. Isn't that right Brighton?" Claudine's voice was loud and clear.

There was hardly a pause before Brighton answered. "Yes. I have no doubt that she'd make a good apprentice."

"Then what are we waiting for? Start training her! The more people we have the better right?" High-pitched voice seemed slightly anxious yet excited at the same time.

"But she's only a kid." Checky stated, his voice was soft and yet held a lot of power. I sincerely wondered how old he was because his voice sounded quite young too. Not maybe my age young but early twenties young.

There was the sound of a hand hitting a table. "So what? The Black Wings aren't just going to spare kids if they come across their path. If we start training her now then she'll be able to protect herself when the time comes. She'll be able to survive. That's a good thing isn't it?"

"That's not how it'll work. She doesn't think like that." I could tell Brighton was shaking his head. And I was stumped for a second. I didn't think like that?

"How does she think then?" The deep voice asked, curious.

Brighton let out a sigh. "She wouldn't just abandon others so she could survive. She'd help them. And by doing that… I think she might just sacrifice herself if it meant saving them."

That was true. I would help others, power or not. But sacrificing myself?

Would I really do that? Maybe… If it were to save them, the people I cared about. But how could he know? How could he say it with such certainty?

"That's great then!" The high-pitched voice clapped her hands. "She would be so much better than that other crappy apprentice of yours."

I could feel the mood in the room drop. "Don't talk about Spade like that Crystal." Brighton warned. My interest was immediately spiked. So Brighton's apprentice was named Spade huh? Interesting...

"What? It's the truth. He's never here. He's off who knows where. Maybe he's dead." Crystal said nonchalantly and I frowned at how casual she sounded. You know she was actually reminding me of that girl Terrence was with… Bailey I think her name was? Maybe they were related.

"He's not dead. Brighton is still in contact with him." Claudine informed Crystal and I heard her gasp almost dramatically in response.

"What? Why don't you tell him to come back then? Having another Battle Mage around here would be useful!" She sounded slightly accusing, and _very _upset.

Although I wasn't as… Upset as Crystal was I was very _curious _as to hear Brighton's reasons for not telling Spade to come back.

Sadly it seemed like the universe was against me, preventing me from hearing that one piece of information.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder in C2 Area 3!" A computerized voice was being projected out of speakers along with a loud ringing sound, an alarm probably. I squirmed in my spot in the air duct. It was awfully loud here in the air duct especially.

"Area 3? That's not too far from here!" Belle's voice was loud so it could be heard over the alarm. There were the sounds of multiple footsteps and the door opening and closing.

I waited with bated breath and after a couple of seconds of not hearing anything I chanced a peek into the room. Then I cursed mentally.

_Damn it_.

"Mind telling me what you're doing in the air ducts Eli?" Brighton asked calmly. He was directly beneath where I was. Claudine was there too, just a little off to the side. Everyone else seemed to be gone though.

I blinked once, twice, and then decided to just skip the pleasantries. "How did you know I was in here?"

Claudine didn't miss a beat. "We could hear your breathing."

I looked at them in disbelief. "That's not normal."

"Are you sure you're one to talk?" Brighton said with a raised eyebrow. I huffed.

"Ugh fine. Light, help me out of here please." I grimaced. My ears were starting to hurt from the alarm.

There was a slight pressure on my wrist and my vision was encompassed in blue. There was a brief moment where I felt like I was floating and then a second passed and everything was normal again. I was standing in the middle of the room facing Brighton and Claudine.

I blinked away spots in my vision and Light released his grip on my wrist and clapped me on the back.

"Well we tried Eli. Couldn't help that the people that we were dealing with weren't normal." He sighed and stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

I raised my hand to hit him on the arm but stopped when I saw Claudine's hand reach up towards her ear where an ear piece was located.

"What did you just say?" Her voice sounded controlled but I could tell she was slightly agitated. Brighton frowned and moved to stand closer to her but she held up her other hand to stop him.

"What did they look like?" She continued and after a pause she turned to look at me. I stared back, confused.

"Bring them back to the meeting room." Claudine frowned, seemingly very displeased. "That's an _order _Crystal." She finally dropped her hand from the earpiece and crossed her arms, still looking at me.

I tilted my head to the side slightly. Why was she staring at me?

"Um…" I started but was cut off my Claudine's question.

"How did you get here?" She asked.

I blinked. "A vending machine?" It came out more as a question than an actual statement and at Claudine and Brighton's slight disbelief I tried to elaborate on it more. "Well my auras found an entrance to the base near my house and took me to it. There was a vending machine and uh… Star pressed some buttons and it opened to show an elevator. I used the elevator to get here."

"But you need a Resistance Card in order to operate the elevator." Brighton's voice was practically dripping with displeasure. He knew, or at least had a good guess about what had happened.

I put my hands up in an attempt to placate them. "In my defense I didn't steal the card. Light did. Although I'm not really sure how…"

"Whose card did you use?" Claudine was tapping her foot, a sign of impatience probably.

"Terrence… Reyes? I think that's his last name.?" I dug out the card from my jeans pocket to make sure. Before I could properly look at it though it was swiped out of my hand by Brighton.

He looked at the card for a couple of seconds before passing it to Claudine.

"What's your relationship with him?" He asked.

"We're… friends? I think." I added the last part as an after thought. I wasn't entirely sure if we could be counted as friends.

There was a pause as we just stood in silence and then all of a sudden I could hear loud footsteps approaching. I tensed slightly and my auras gathered around me protectively but then I noticed how Claudine and Brighton both seemed relaxed so I tried to relax too.

Only a couple of seconds passed before the door was slammed open and I saw a pretty girl with straight light brown hair and blonde highlights walk in. Her blue eyes were shining and her lips were pulled into a small smirk.

"We've brought the intruders." She announced dramatically. My eyes widened after hearing her voice and I was glad to finally see how Crystal looked like.

Her eyes met mines and she raised an eyebrow. "This is who was spying on us in the air ducts?"

"Yes this is her." Brighton said while stepping forward so that he was standing slightly in front of me.

Crystal clicked her tongue. "So where are we getting rid of her then?"

I felt more than saw Brighton tense. "We're not getting rid of her."

"Why not?" I could feel my dislike for her growing. Her high-pitched voice was becoming slightly annoying. Her attitude wasn't nice either.

"Because she's the Battle Mage candidate that you earlier were _insisting _we train." Claudine stated.

Crystal stared at me wide-eyed. "Her? But she's so young! Like, _really_ young!"

"That was my point exactly." Checky entered the room and to my surprise he was carrying Zeno in his arms.

"Zeno!" I exclaimed and my little brother turned to look at me, eyes wide in slight fear. He opened his mouth to say something but he choked and then decided against it.

Checky sighed and put him down. However he still kept a firm grip on Zeno's arm. I looked at him in confusion. He turned behind him where the door was still open and footsteps were still approaching along with the sound of muffled yells.

My eyes widened and I felt dread pool in my stomach. If Zeno was here then that automatically meant that…

My fears were confirmed when an unknown man (I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's the deep-voiced man) walked in carrying Alishar in his arms. Unlike Zeno she had a cloth wrapped around her mouth and her wrists were bound. She was being carried bridal style and was kicking her legs quite forcefully and trying to talk through the cloth in her mouth.

"Ali! Calm down!" I yelled and she turned to look at me, eyes wide in surprise and relief.

"So you all know each other then?" Crystal smiled, quite pleased for some reason.

I nodded my head, not really paying attention to her due to my eyes flashing between both Ali and Zeno. I was trying to reassure them but they still seemed scared, Zeno more so than Ali.

"It's too bad I'm going to have to knock them unconscious." Crystal announced cheerfully and I felt the tension in the room sky rocket and my fists clenched, my nails digging into my palms.

"Crystal…" Claudine warned. Said person only looked at Claudine with slight confusion.

"Well it's not like we can have them remember where the base is right? That girl over there-" She gestured towards me. "Is okay since she's going to be a part of us anyway but these two?" She motioned towards Ali and Zeno now. "Can't trust 'em. They're young, _really _super young. Their mouths are very loose."

I opened my mouth to protest but Brighton stopped me by stepping towards the side to block my view. "We can just get Wendelline to give us something to erase part of their memories."

"I'm sure that's not necessary. We can just knock them out now to save time after all!" Crystal reasoned.

My breath quickened and I pushed past Brighton to see Crystal about to hit Zeno in the back of the neck and my eyes met his which were wide with fear.

The next things happened only in a couple of seconds but it felt like minutes.

My hand was stretched out towards him and I screamed his name, wanting to do something, _anything_ because _no one else was moving_ and my vision suddenly went sharp and I blacked out for a second and I faintly heard-

_Don't you mess with my master's family._

Then my vision cleared and I realized I was on my hands and knees on the floor. I looked up and saw Crystal laying on the floor unmoving and Zeno looking at me, terrified, scared, and horrified, but also _relieved_.

For a second I thought I killed her. Then my brain corrected me, _knocked unconscious but not kill. You're not that strong Eli. _

Then everything seemed to fast forward.

Brighton was right next to me saying something into my ear but everything just seemed like static. My breathing was erratic and I felt drained again.

My brain concluded that I did something using my auras. I agreed with it wholeheartedly.

Now Ali and Zeno were by me. They were worried. I could see it on their faces but I couldn't hear what they were saying…

And then suddenly I could hear and I closed my eyes shut tight as I felt my ears pop. I opened them and saw that everyone in the room looked much paler than before.

I grimaced at what that might have meant.

"Eli, can you hear us now Eli? Are you with us?" Brighton's voice was loud and clear now and I rubbed my ear slightly.

He sighed in relief.

"Oh my goddess Eli! I have no idea what you did but that was so _cool!_" Ali told me excitedly. I looked at her in disbelief and my disbelief only rose further when I saw Zeno nod excitedly with a huge smile on his face from his place next to her.

What happened to being terrified? Not that I wasn't glad for that but were they _that_ good at adapting? That was kind of scary…

"I would also like to know what you did Eli." Claudine said, her arms crossed over her chest as she walked towards my spot on the floor. I looked at her almost uncomprehendingly before I nodded. Then I blinked, wondering why I was nodding in the first place.

"I actually would like to know what I just did too." I said while looking at my hands in confusion.

Brighton looked at me in concern. "You don't… Remember?"

I frowned. "It's not so much as 'don't remember' as 'didn't see in the first place.'" I informed him.

"You didn't see it?" Zeno asked, sounding quite disappointed.

I shook my head. "I just remember extending my hand and then blacking out."

"You knock me out but don't even remember knocking me out? That sucks."

My eyes widened as I saw Crystal stand up from across the room. My eyes widened even more when I noticed the scorched part of her shirt near her stomach. It was black, like it was burned through but the skin looked fine.

"Hm? What'd I miss?" I looked up to see Belle enter the door. She took one look at Crystal, then me on the floor and she groaned.

"Aw, did I really miss Eli shooting some aura magic at Crystal?" She frowned and sighed in slight annoyance.

Crystal looked at her dryly. "Nice to know you care."

Belle only grinned in response. "Well come on, her magic is still unrefined. It couldn't have hurt you that much."

"It didn't but it did manage to knock me unconscious, if only for a while." Crystal smiled slightly and looked over at me.

I could only stare back confused.

"Huh? Wait, what just happened? Am I missing something?"

Claudine smiled at me. "What just happened was that you just gave us a reason to put you as Brighton's apprentice."

I stared at her, not understanding what she had just said.

Belle took over from there. "Well, the reason why Brighton couldn't take you in as an apprentice was due to you being too young right? It wasn't because he thought you couldn't handle the training, but because most of the Resistance wouldn't have agreed to someone so young becoming a Battle Mage. They already don't approve of having new candidates so even more so they wouldn't agree to you training to become an actual Battle Mage. Not to mention the fact that they wouldn't understand that you actually knew and understood what you were getting yourself into. Some of them are kind of hopeless like that." She shrugged at the last part, smiling slightly.

"Hey that's not nice." Checky commented.

"Well most of those people are in my division so I can call them hopeless." Belle stuck her tongue out at him.

I bit my lip as I tried to process the information being handed out to me. "Wait, but how does that add up to a reason to make me Brighton's apprentice?"

"Because you just demonstrated use of accidental magic." I looked up to see Crystal standing in front of me now. She took a seat across from me and pointed to the scorched fabric of her shirt. "Did you mean to purposefully do this?"

I shook my head. "No... It just happened somehow."

She grinned. "See? It was by accident. Therefor your magic is slightly out of control." Her expression turned serious. "It can hurt people without you really meaning to."

"What she means overall though-" Brighton cut in hastily, sending a sharp glare towards Crystal to which she smiled innocently. "Since your magic is out of control it gives me a reason to take you in as an apprentice: To help you control it."

My eyes widened slightly. "_Oh_."

"Yes, _oh_." Claudine said and I looked up at her. "I'm just happy our plan worked, despite the… _Unexpected _variables in it." She said the last part by blatantly looking at Zeno and Ali.

A cough from Checky turned the attention to him and what he said surprised me. "Your acting was superb though Crystal. You're great at improvising."

Wait, acting?

"Of course it's awesome. I'm not the vice president of the drama club at the college for nothing after all." Crystal flipped her hair over her shoulder with a smug smile. She looked at me then in apology. "Sorry for coming off as a little witch Eliza. I hope we can get along well in the future."

All I could do in response was blink and let out a quiet, "_Eh?_"

Crystal covered her mouth with her hand and I could have sworn I saw tears well up in her blue eyes. "Oh my, I think we broke her."

"She's just in shock. I'm sure she never expected that all of this was all a part of our plan." Claudine stated offhandedly.

A couple of laughs were heard throughout the room while I could only look at all the Resistance members present in disbelief. Zeno and Alishar looked confused, but seemed to shrug it off. My auras however…

"They're definitely _not _human… Or at least not at all normal." Light said as he choked out a laugh. He was running his hands through his hair.

"Wow… So these are the people who plan to take down the Black Wings. Maybe I underestimated them a bit too much." Star admitted with a slight frown on her face.

Tempest looked like he didn't really care anymore. "Way to surround yourself, and therefore us with a bunch of weirdos Eliza. At least I know that things will never be boring..." He added the last part as if he was trying to comfort himself.

The Resistance huh…

These people were _nothing _like they were in the game. Or well, maybe they was _some _resemblance but not a lot.

I sighed and fell back on to the floor, ready to just pass out.

I really hope that I don't meet anymore weird people. These ones were already almost too much for me.

(I knew that wouldn't happen though. I was doomed to live a life full of weird people that I probably would never come to fully understand. But hey, things could be worse.)

* * *

**I'm like dancing. I'm so happy!**

**Look it's a new chapter! Look!**

**I told you I'd make it up to you guys!**

**This is the result of pretty much spending the entire day writing. Very productive if you ask me. **

**AND IT'S THE LONGEST CHAPTER SO FAR! (And was a pain to edit)**

**You know, halfway through I was pretty much just 'screw the outline' and I ended up just doing my own thing. Well it's more like one thing led to another and I just kind of deviated from the outline.**

**What's the point of my outline. I usually deviate from it anyways. **

**Anyways, like how I've been saying in the past chapters: If you have any questions or are confused feel free to tell me in a review or a PM and I'll try to help explain it to you I guess? Some stuff I might not be able to explain due to it being revealed in later chapters though.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Training and letters**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 10/5/14**

**Finished Writing: 10/7/14 (I'm so proud of myself)**


	17. Training Day

Past The Screen

_Chapter Seventeen_

* * *

It's been a little over a week since that day I sneaked into the Resistance Headquarters and a lot has happened since then.

First I moved into the base to make it easier for my training. The excuse given to my parents was that I was specially enrolled in a 'Athletic Training Camp' that was free of charge but would last until the second to the last day of school.

Next Brighton showed me how to make my auras visible to others. I was a rather simple spell that I got down in a couple of hours. By the time I was able to do the spell successfully I was tired and worn out but seeing everyone's reactions to finally seeing my auras was worth it in my opinion.

Thirdly my auras were let in on my _big secret_. I thought it was going to be a pretty dramatic reveal but with the whole 'projected thoughts' thing we had going on turned it into a rather simple affair._  
_

After that Brighton whisked away my auras for special training and I was thrown to the other instructors (literally _thrown _but that's a story for another time) for physical training. Brighton's reasons for that being that he had to take care of some magic stuff with them first and that I was completely out of shape which was apparently a huge _no-no _for a Battle Mage. He was right of course on both accounts but it still hurt to hear. And to add on to that, being without my auras for about a week was weird, and tiring. Very tiring.

That was all going to change today though, because now I was finally starting my aura training. Sadly that didn't mean I was completely exempt from my physical training anymore.

This camp was going to be the death of me. (I'm joking but you know what I mean.)

* * *

I woke up to the alarm ringing on my bedside table. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was five a.m on the dot.

At first I laid in bed confused. Why as I up so early? My training schedule didn't start till eight after all but then I remembered.

"I'm going to die today." I groaned and then sighed as my eyes caught the paper taped on the wall next to the bed. It was my new training schedule, now featuring more than just physical training.

**Eliza's New Training Schedule **(First level is C1, second C2, etc)

_5:00 - Wake up_

_5:30 - Morning jog around the track (One Lap)_

_6:00 - Breakfast_

_7:00 - Yoga Class with Crystal on C1 in Room 4_

_8:00 - Basic Training with Elex on C2 in Room 1_

_10:00 - Agility Training with Belle on C2 in Room 3_

_11:00 - Lunch_

_12:00 - Aura Training_

_5:00 - Free Time_

_6:00 - Dinner_

_7:00 - Knowledge Classes on C1 in Room 5 (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only)_

_8:30 - Evening jog around the track (One Lap)_

_9:00 - Sleep_

I grimaced as I read through the entire schedule. Compared to my previous one there was a huge lack of free time. And I also had _Knowledge Classes_. No doubt they'd be giving me homework, and that would only further decrease my free time.

Letting out a sigh I got out of bed and stretched. "Well… Guess I'll just have to see how the day goes. Maybe it won't be so bad." And with that being said I headed towards the bathroom to get ready for my morning jog.

* * *

_5:30 - Morning jog around the track (One Lap)_

The Headquarters was huge, that much was obvious. But I didn't fully realize exactly how huge it was until I was introduced to the indoor track it had.

"Wow, I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to how big the Headquarters is. I swear I'm going to end up lost one day." I said as I entered the large room, closing the door behind me softly. I was dressed in black basketball shorts and a simple white shirt.

"You'll get used to it in time. And that's why we gave you that electronic map to memorize."

I turned towards the voice and was only mildly surprised to see Claudine leaning against the fence near the starting line. Jogging up to her I waved slightly.

"Good morning Claudine. Are you going to be the one watching over me as I do my morning jog?" I asked her curiously as I started to stretch.

She nodded. "Only for this morning though, we'll be alternating who's watching you."

I hummed slightly in answer and continued stretching. After finishing I took my place at the front of the starting line on the track. "Am I being timed?" I wondered.

"No, Brighton said to just jog. I'm just here to make sure you do your lap properly." Claudine answered and with that being said I started my lap.

Upon finishing I couldn't help but smile slightly. Just a week ago I couldn't even jog _half _the track before feeling exhausted. Now I could jog the full track and only feel slightly tired.

As I did some cool down stretches I looked up to see Claudine already making her way towards the exit.

"Thanks for watching me!" I told her while waving. She waved back, a small smile on her face.

* * *

_6:00 - Breakfast_

After my morning jog I showered and changed before heading towards the cafeteria to get breakfast. Six was around the normal time for Resistance Members to get breakfast so the cafeteria was a bit crowded. I was quite lucky to get an empty table to sit at.

A soft pat on my head made me look up. Terrence was smiling down at me.

"Yo, Eliza. What're you doing up so early?" He asked, taking the seat across of me with Bailey following shortly after.

I swallowed a piece of my pancake before answering. "New training schedule. I get up at five now."

Bailey snorted. "She told us that last night at dinner Terrence remember?"

Said person paused in spreading jelly over their toast. "Uh, sort of?"

"I bet you weren't even paying attention. You were too busy stuffing your face." Bailey smirked slightly and I giggled.

"Last night was spaghetti Bailey! You know how much I love spaghetti." Terrence said in his defense, his cheeks slightly pink. "But yeah, I probably wasn't paying attention. Sorry Eli." He added in while sounding slightly guilty.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it Terrence. Let's just enjoy our breakfast."

In that one week since arriving at the base I had made up with Bailey after (rather awkwardly) returning Terrence's Resistance Card. (He wasn't mad at me when I returned it, turns out he didn't notice it missing in the first place.) The three of us were now friends and I had taken to eating lunch and dinner with them. However, now that I had to wake up earlier it looked like I'd be able to eat breakfast with them now too.

We exchanged small talk for awhile but eventually I finished my breakfast. Lifting up my tray to throw it in a nearby trashcan I waved goodbye to the two of them.

"See you at lunch Eliza!" Terrence grinned.

"Good luck with your training, goddess knows you need it." Bailey added in.

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

* * *

_7:00 - Yoga Class with Crystal in C1 Room 4_

"Wow you're early Eli-Eli."

My eyes met Crystal's from the door of the room and I waved. "Morning, I didn't want to be late."

The brunette tsked. "I know that but fifteen minutes? Really?"

"What time do your other students come?" I asked sounding curious as I laid down my yoga mat on the floor.

Crystal thought about it for a second, "Hm, most come the few minutes before class starts. Some come a little after." She giggled a little. "They're not all that good with punctuality but they're teenagers so I'm pretty understanding of that."

"You're pretty much a teenager too." I said with a raised brow.

She shook her head. "I'm _twenty _three. So I'm a young adult, not a teenager." She paused and look at me with a gleam in her eyes. "You're not even a teenager though, you're _ten_. You've got three more years sweetie."

I huffed. "I know that. But you know, don't you think it looks kind of bad if a _ten-year old _is more punctual than a teenager?"

Crystal looked at me for a second before her face split into a wide grin. A plan was forming in her head no doubt. Something that would end up to be slightly embarrassing but very amusing probably.

I let out a soft sigh and started to do some stretches on my yoga mat. At least I knew I could count on my mornings to be pretty interesting at least.

* * *

_8:00 - Basic Training with Elex in C2 Room 1_

My body was on fire. Well, maybe not _really _on fire but it sure felt like it.

"Worn out already? And to think I thought you had improved your stamina a little bit."

Frowning I pushed myself off the floor of the training room so that I could sit somewhat properly and tried to smile. "Worn out? Nah of course not."

It was true. I didn't feel worn out, I felt like dying. Not like I was going to tell Elex that. I didn't need him to give Brighton any reason to postpone my actual Battle Mage training.

I watched curiously as Elex made a show of rolling his eyes as he headed over to one of the closets off to the side of the room. He opened it and tossed me a cold water bottle.

Grinning I thanked him happily and gulped down the water. After finishing off around half of it I looked up at Elex who had his arms crossed in front of me.

"If you're tired then say you are. Don't push yourself too much." He lectured with a small frown on his face.

I avoided eye contact and made a sort of humming sound to signify agreement. That was a mistake. A big mistake.

"Excuse me?"

Elex's strict tone made my back straighten and I automatically replied with a _yes sir! _

Because Elex was scary. And that wasn't just because he had complete authority to make me drop and do ten push-ups or other exercises whenever he felt like it - both in and out of training. (There was this one time a few days ago in the cafeteria and just… just _no_.)

He nodded, smirking slightly and dismissed me early since I was so 'worn out.'

I sighed to myself as I glanced towards the clock hanging on the wall not too far from me. Looks like I had a good thirty minutes of free time before training with Belle.

Thirty minutes huh… Maybe I could take a little nap?

* * *

_10:00 - Agility Training with Belle in C2 Room 3_

I was going to die. Literally this time.

"Late! I'm so late!" I cried as I ran through the hallways of the Resistance Headquarters. It was _ten thirty two _and I was late to my agility training with Belle and she was going to _kill me_. Because although she didn't look like it, Belle was an absolute demon when it came to being on time. At least that's what Crystal said she was, and since she was Belle's second in command I believed her fully.

Skidding to a stop in front of Room 3 on C2 I took in a deep breath and prayed to the Goddess Rhine. Although I didn't know what good that'd do. If my life in the Maple World so far has been anything to go by then I was pretty sure she loved messing with me. Or at least make my life interesting and not at all normal. Maybe if I was lucky and didn't die in the near future I could ask Alpha and Beta about it. That would definitely make for an interesting conversation.

Shaking my head to rid myself of distracting thoughts I cautiously opened the door a little. After taking a small peek inside I frowned and thrust the door open completely.

She wasn't there. Belle was not in the room.

"Eh?" I couldn't help but say as I walked further into the room, closing the door softly behind me. I glanced around wildly, looking to see if maybe she was hiding but _nope_. She was nowhere in the room.

Narrowing my eyes I bit my lip slightly. Why wasn't she here? Belle was never late or absent to anything. _Ever_.

Not even to that one Resistance meeting that she had been _excused from for crying out loud _due to a leg injury she had. (A story Crystal had informed me of awhile ago that was both interesting and quite funny.)

Due to my mind being completely immersed in my thoughts I had completely missed the loud footsteps approaching the room quickly which led me to be completely surprised when the door burst open just seconds afterwards.

I turned around quickly, my arms automatically going into a fighting stance but faltered upon seeing a flushed and panting Belle at the door. After a couple more seconds of just me staring at her catching her breath I tilted my head to the side and parroted what I said earlier.

"Eh?"

Belle let out a tired grin as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Yo Eliza. Sorry I'm late. Crystal was pestering me with a bunch of paperwork. New equipment and stuff like that. I didn't realize the time at all."

I blinked and my mind seemed to shut down. "B-But I thought you were _never_ late. Like _ever_."

She looked at me confused for a second before bursting out laughing. I could only stare helplessly as she tried to calm herself down.

"Did Crystal tell you that?" Belle said after a while.

I nodded slowly and Belle gave me a look. Like a, _are-you-serious _look and then I realized.

"That liar!" I said indignantly to which Belle gave a slight shake of her head.

"I'm surprised that you believed her in the first place."

I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. "She was finally starting to seem like a responsible adult that I could depend on. And she's your second in command so I trusted her words on you." I said in my defense.

Belle shrugged, then grinned. Uh oh, that couldn't be good.

"Well to get back at her for that _you're _going to play a little prank on her!" Belle said cheerfully with her hands on her hips.

Staring at her blankly I let out a confused sounding _huh?_

She huffed and explained. "Well, seeing as how we have only around thirty minutes of class I can't really go over much of what I wanted to do today so I'm moving it to tomorrow. Today though, you're going to have a training exercise that'll require you playing a prank on Crystal without her finding out within the remaining amount of class time and then report back to me. Oh! And you can't have someone pull the prank for you. It's gotta be you carrying out the prank."

I gawked at her. "How am I supposed to prank her and not have her find out it was me? That's impossible…"

"Nothings impossible Eli." Belle said with a cheeky grin. "Just remember, it doesn't have to be anything big. A small little prank is fine. This'll not only test your agility but also how sneaky and cunning you are too." She said while exiting the room, only stopping to tell me she'd be in her office for the time being and to come by after I had succeeded. Which I was pretty sure wouldn't happen.

I let out a sigh after Belle left and fell to the floor into a sitting position. How was I supposed to prank Crystal? She was like super aware of her surroundings. Her title of second in command for Belle wasn't for nothing after all.

Thinking hard I thought about what Belle had said last. _A small little prank is fine._ A small little prank huh? So something simple should be good-

"Aha!" I grinned and busted out the door, rushing to get the objects I needed to carry out my plan.

Twenty minutes later I left Belle's office feeling great and catching sight of some members from the Mechanic faction of the Resistance muttering about how Wild Hunter second in command Crystal had a _kick me_ sign on her back. My mood changed from great to wonderful in a second and I couldn't stop grinning.

It was a silly small little prank. I was still quite proud of myself for accomplishing it though.

* * *

_11:00 - Lunch_

"Hey did you know that Crystal has a _kick me _sign taped on her back?"

My eyes widened and I burst into a fit of giggles, almost choking on my ham and cheese sandwich.

Bailey looked at me in concern and patted my back. I looked at her gratefully to which she smiled back and then glared at Terrence. "Your fault. You almost made her choke."

"I didn't mean too! But really you think it's that funny Eli? I feel kind of scared about what's going to happen to the person who did it once she realizes it." Terrence said as he took a bite out of his own tuna sandwich.

I blinked up at him in surprise. "She hasn't noticed it yet?"

"Nope. Everyone's too scared to point it out actually. Crystal can be pretty scary sometimes after all." Bailey added in seriously and I took her words to heart. The two of them were siblings so of course she'd know. All of the high rank Resistance Members seemed like they could be scary sometimes. I guess it's only natural really.

Leaning back in my chair I bit back a smile. She still hadn't noticed that I was the one who put it on her while I hugged her in greeting as I passed by her in the hallway. I wonder if I'd be the first one she suspected once she did find out.

"Okay spill. Why are you smiling so much?" Bailey commanded, whispering slightly and I noticed how she and Terrence were looking at me so intently.

I looked at them in consideration before leaning forward slightly and dropping my voice to a low whisper. "Promise you won't tell."

"Promise." They said in sync, then turned to glare at each other for a couple of seconds before returning to look back at me.

Taking in a deep breath to be dramatic I whispered, "I was the one who put the sign on Crystal's back."

Cue dramatic gasps, soft ones thought to not alert those surrounding us of course.

"No way." Bailey said, looking at me with wide eyes and… slight admiration?

Terrence however just grinned. "Woah! I never knew you had it in you." Then his expression turned serious, and a bit sad. "It'll suck to see you get beat down by Crystal once she finds out though."

I waved my hand at him and shook my head. "She can't do that because Belle was the one who told me to do it anyways. It was a training exercise."

"So you're pretty safe huh? _Nice_." Bailey smiled, shoving my shoulder a little.

Grinning I continued to eat my sandwich and the three of us settled into a comfortable silence.

* * *

_12:00 - Aura Training_

I never understood the saying _being hugged to death_. Not until now at least.

"I've missed you _so so _much Eliza!" Star.

"Brighton put us through _hell _but we're so much stronger now! We'll be sure to help you with your training a lot Eli." Light.

"It's good to finally see you after all this time." Tempest.

Right now I was being hugged by all three of them, very tightly hugged if I may add.

"_Guys- _Yes, I missed you too but I can't really breathe well so could you uh…"

In an instant the arms loosened and I was able to come face to face with my auras again. We all exchanges smiles and overall happy atmospheric thoughts with each other until a high-pitched whistle broke the mood.

"Good to see you've all been able to have your reunion with each other but we've got work to do and only five hours to do it." Brighton said from across the training room, near one of the walls which had a long counter that had many different items on top of it.

I huffed and started jogging over to him, my auras following behind me. "What's all this for?" I asked while looking at all the items. It was an assortment of things: pants, cloaks, shirts, shoes, staffs, jewelry, etc.

"We're going to be deciding what equipment you'll be using along with your weapon."

My eyes brightened in excitement before a thought occurred to me. "Actually…"

Brighton looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"My friend already got me a staff… An actual staff like a magic one. So could I use that instead of one of these." I gestured towards the staffs that lay on the counter haphazardly. They were all nice and all but I'd much rather use the staff Macey got me.

He seemed to take it into consideration for a second before letting out a smile. "I thought you'd say that. And then without further ado he opened one of the cabinets underneath and took out the Emerald Staff Macey gave me.

"How did you-" I asked in slight awe, taking in the shiny appearance of the staff and smiling widely as I took it from him to hold with my two hands. It looked even better than when I first opened the gift.

"Don't ask." Brighton cut me off abruptly and gestured back to the items on the counter. "See if any of these seem to work well with you."

I blinked and turned to the items. Leaning the staff on the counter I passed my hands over the items, taking them all in. My eyes caught a pair of black gloves that looked similar to the ones Luke got me for my birthday. I frowned slightly at the thought of my friends, both him and Macey. I hoped they were doing okay, I didn't even really get to talk to them about the whole camp thing.

"Ah, that's right."

I tilted my head slightly at hearing Brighton's muttering. He walked a bit away from me to open a different cabinet and took out a _very _familiar backpack. A black backpack with paint splatters on it.

"That's-" My eyes were wide in surprise and I only barely caught the bag as it was thrown at me.

Brighton met my eyes with a slight smile. "Your auras-" He said in a way of explanation, "Got a bunch of stuff from your room that they thought would be important to your training."

Grinning wide I thanked the three of them and wasted no second in seeing what was in the bag.

There was the gloves Luke gave me, Ali's and Zeno's charm bracelet and necklace respectively, and Alex's beaded bracelets.

"Besides the staff of course that backpack seems to have quite a bit of magic embedded into it." Brighton noted as I started putting on the gloves and jewelry.

Aiming for a nonchalant tone I said, "I have a friend who's a Magician, she made it for me." It probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention her name. I wasn't sure if Brighton knew Oz or not but it might look a bit suspicious if I knew her.

Which reminded me, I still needed to write Oz and the others their letters.

"That's nice, you met her during your trip to Victoria Island I assume?"

I nodded and admired my hands and wrists before tugging slightly on the necklace around my neck.

"That's good and all but we've still got to decide the rest of your equipment. All that jewelry isn't going to help much with defense after all." Brighton smiled slightly to which I huffed at slightly.

After a couple of minutes I decided on a pair of black pants and a dark purple fitted t-shirt paired with a black jacket and dark brown shoes. Each item was reinforced with magic and so was less prone to being damaged and getting dirty which was an obvious plus. Sad thing was that I was only allowed to use these clothes during missions. Which I apparently wasn't going on anytime soon.

"Then why am I picking it out now?" I asked confused after deciding my outfit and everything.

His reply was quick and straight to the point. "I may say that you aren't going on missions for a while but circumstances can change quickly. Life is rather unpredictable like that."

I nodded in understanding before asking what I had been wondering for a while now. "When am I going to start aura training?"

"Right now."

And with that being said a purple magic circle appeared around his feet and all of a sudden yellow fire burst out, surrounding him in the glowing flames. _Aura_, my brain corrected. It was aura- not fire.

I looked at it in slight confusion. What was I supposed to do, copy it?

"Not exactly." Star whispered next to me and I glanced over at her in surprise. Her face was set in extreme concentration. "Everyone's magic circle is different because no one is the same. Create your own magic circle in your mind - a purple one that represents your strength - and _believe in it_. Believe that it's possible and _imagine it _appearing under your feet light Brighton's. I'll help you through the rest."

Biting my lip I closed my eyes. Magic circle… strength… In my mind I created a drawing. A circle, more circles, lines, the moon, and most importantly the _stars_. All of them were arranged in my mind perfectly, without any hesitation. It was like I somehow _knew _that this was how it was supposed to look like.

Then I believed in it. This was my magic circle. It represented my dark aura. It represented _Star_ with it's simple yet pretty design. It emanated a slightly fun and peaceful feeling.

The image came to me quickly after that. I could see it clearly and I felt something tug at me from the inside. My right hand moved on it's own and my eyes snapped open as I snapped my fingers as my hand swept from left to the right. Below me my magic circle glowed faintly purple and the dark aura followed my hand movement, flaring up in a clockwise circle. It wasn't as deep a purple, or as bright, or even as tall as Brighton's aura. His aura fluctuated to the point of rising as high as his waist to where his knees were, mines reached my own knees but compared to him I was rather short.

Nonetheless I was happy. I felt very accomplished in being able to do that. And I was still standing too.

My mind then started to drift as seconds passed and I started to feel slightly drained but I still felt _great_. My body felt like it could punch through a wall - _maybe it actually could_. But before I could test out my hypothesis I was snapped out of my state by a slight smack to the back of my head.

The circle faded and the aura disappeared while I was left slightly pale with a headache already forming.

"Not bad, it'd probably be better if you were using your staff though." Brighton noted from behind me and I glared at him slightly. Stupid teleport, when was I going to learn how to do that again?

"Why don't I use my staff then?" I questioned, rubbing my fingers in circles on my temples.

He hummed. "I believe that you should start with the hardest first and then move on to the easiest."

"Ah I see." But I didn't see actually. Not like I'd tell him that though.

"If you're still okay then I suggest we move on to your fighting skill." He said, arms crossed. I made a face at him.

"When do I get to learn how to teleport?"

"Later, I don't want to have to deal with you teleporting yourself to places on accident."

That caught my attention. "How would that happen?"

He sighed. "Once I tell you the basics of it you might unintentionally use teleport. Which is bad, because chances are that I'll have to hunt you down when no one hears from you for five hours because you accidentally teleported yourself into a supply closet."

I gawked. "I wouldn't do something like that!"

"Sure you won't. He said that too you know." Brighton smiled slightly at that and I took the opportunity to ask him about who I thought he was talking about.

"_He?_ Your other apprentice? What's he like?" I asked excitedly. Brighton frowned before sighing.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know about him but-" He paused, seemingly to try and find the right words for what he was trying to say. "He's away on a mission right now. I'll introduce you to him when he gets back. He's nice though. A good student."

I nodded in agreement. "Yup, a good student. One that teleports himself into a supply closet. Why couldn't he teleport himself out anyways?"

"That has to do with the basics of the magic which I won't go into right now. Moving on though, the attacking spell that Battle Mages of your level which is the first level is what I like to call _Triple Blow_." Brighton said, while motioning me to pick up my staff again.

"This'll be interesting." I murmured to myself as I stepped back into place in front of him. Then I listened closely to the following information given.

"Triple Blow involves using your staff as something akin to a sword. Using your magic you create a blade of normal magical and dark energy (_keep note that most of your magic will involve both pure and dark energy but dark magic is a Battle Mage's specialty_) which is used to strike an enemy three times. The energy covers the staff to create the blade and also increases the length therefor range of the attack. The attack consists of three hits _only_. The basic hits are up, down, and to the side but some degree of customization is allowed. Just make sure it's three hits. As you increase in level the number of hits the attack allows will increase so don't worry about that. After attacking a small pause - minuscule at my level - must be allowed before doing the attack again." Brighton said before stepping back a bit and demonstrating.

The attack looked much like how it did from the game, from what I can remember from it anyways. White energy with faded purple at the edges wrapped in dark purple streaks all coating the staff, making it barely visible. He followed what he said and first started by swinging his staff(it looked like the Dragon Staff to me) upwards, then down and then across. Each strike was quick and precise and I couldn't help but clap afterwards.

"Cool! I want to try!" I said excitedly, already positioning my staff.

Brighton shook his head fiercely. "No, you're not ready yet. We're practicing forms first, _then _you can start adding magic into it."

"Aw…" But I didn't whine or complain anymore than that. I was the one who wanted this training anyways so I was going to just have to wait and hopefully get the forms down quickly so I could start adding in my magic.

The five hours were overall pretty productive. We had to take many breaks in between because I got tired rather quickly with how we were alternating between managing my dark aura and practicing my forms for _Triple Blow_.

Sadly I wasn't able to get started on the magic part yet but Brighton said I as progressing at a fast pace, faster than he thought I would. I'd be able to get to it soon. But our definitions of _soon _were probably pretty different so I tried not to get my hopes up too high for next class.

During the last couple of minutes though I did nag him a bit as to when I'd be able to start learning how to teleport. He told me three weeks was his current prediction. I was satisfied with that, I could wait two weeks after all.

Three weeks later Brighton found me in a supply closet making a circlet using the bristles of a broom. I ignored his _I told you so _look and put the circlet on his head.

* * *

_5:00 - Free Time_

This was the time for my afternoon nap. Or at least it was supposed to be but I spent most of it talking to my auras. They still weren't allowed to interact with the other Resistance members sans the big important people (The Resistance Crew plus Crystal and Tony who was the deep voiced man) so right now after aura training was pretty much the only time I'd have to talk with them.

Our conversation ranged from odd discussion topics like the lunch or the latest trends to Brighton's training. It was fun, and I felt like I got a bit closer to them afterwards.

* * *

_6:00 - Dinner_

My dinner was spent in Crystal's office (a small one that was connected to Belle's) and helping her out with paperwork. She found out that I was the one who put the _kick me _sign on her and since she couldn't 'beat me up' she settled with having me help her instead. It wasn't too hard and kind of fun.

I was still a little upset about missing a chance to talk to Terrence and Bailey though.

* * *

_7:00 - Knowledge Classes in C1 Room 5_

"In this class we'll be covering a lot of things including monsters, places, and history. I'll be assigning you all textbooks for you to read and look over. Most of the class will be spent doing hands on activities while for homework you'll be doing notes. Understood?" Tony inquired after taking the class' attendance.

There was a few positive answers to which he narrowed his eyes and said again, "_Understood?_"

This time everyone including me replied with a firm _yes sir!_

Tony smiled. "Good, we'll be starting with monsters. To be specific, the monsters around Edelstein. Your group-" He gestured towards the tables we were sitting at. "Will pick a monster and act it out in front of the class. The class will then need to guess what it is. You may use the textbooks in the back for reference but keep in mind it's not your assigned textbook so I expect it back there in order afterwards." The smile turned into a grin and I mentally made a face at him upon seeing the amusement in his eyes.

Ugh, this class was going to be… something. Yeah _something_ seems to fit, at least if we were going to continue doing odd activities like this for most of class time.

* * *

_8:30 - Evening jog around the track (One Lap)_

I walked into the indoor track to see Checky already halfway through. I waved at him, smiling and he waved back. Then I watched amazed as he sprinted the rest of the way, reaching me who was at the starting point in no time.

"Wow you're fast." I couldn't help but comment.

I had the feeling that he was smiling under the mascot suit. And speaking of mascot suits…

Tilting my head slightly to the side I asked cautiously, "Why do you always wear that bear suit?"

"Another time Eliza. Maybe I'll tell you, later on." He answered, taking his post against the fence.

I nodded in understanding and started stretching before starting my jog around the track. Upon finishing I waved goodbye to him as he walked out. Before he exited though I couldn't resist yelling-

"I'm going to hold you to that you know!"

The bear heart turned slightly in acknowledgement. I got the feeling he was smiling again.

* * *

_9:00 - Sleep_

Lying in my bed I found myself knocking out as soon as my head touched my pillow. Not that I minded of course. I was so tired, sleep was absolutely welcomed.

But although I was exhausted, I still couldn't wait to wake up tomorrow. It was going to be fun and interesting, just like how everyday from now on was bound to be.

* * *

And the rest of my summer passed by quickly. Training always left me tired but it was still fun overall. Then I returned to school, not only scoring high in academics but in athletics too. However, every Tuesday after school along with Saturdays after three untill dinner time I went back to the Resistance Headquarters to continue my training. Macey and Luke didn't question it much and they adjusted their schedules so that we could hang out on the days and during the times I wasn't busy.

During the winter break of that year Brighton approved me as a first job Battle Mage after finally mastering my dark aura, triple blow, and teleport. However I didn't start my second job training until the following summer.

Much like the year before I was whisked away to 'camp' but this time Luke and Macey threw a fit at not being able to come. We had a big fight about it and only reconciled after I convinced Brighton to help me with a little project of mines. He helped me infuse a certain type of magic into three heart-shaped keys I bought from a traveling merchant. When any of the keys were near each other they'd glow slightly. I gave one to each of them as a sorry gift and kept one to myself.

I got the blue one, Macey the purple, and Luke the yellow. In a way they were like friendship bracelets, except they were necklaces. Afterwards the two of them were (sort of) okay with me going on the camp, just so long as I got back the week before school started. I agreed, I needed to do summer homework too after all.

That summer was busy and hectic. Monsters were growing a little more chaotic. I stamped down the worry circling in my gut because _Aran hasn't woken up yet. Charlotte hasn't told me anything. There's still time._

Not much training magic wise was done. Not like I could with Brighton being gone a lot anyways to help manage monster populations. So summer passed without much happening. And it wasn't until late winter/early spring that things started to get interesting.

I got a letter in the mail from Charlotte.

_It seems like the ice is finally starting to melt._

It was code for Aran was _awake_.

By that point I had gotten the basics down for some of the second job skills. The blue and yellow auras specifically since Tempest and Light helped me with them. However the others… There was only so much that Brighton's skill book could teach me. And without anything to properly fight with since I wasn't allowed to attack the monsters outside Edelstein and everyone sans Terrence and Bailey being too wary of me to spar with I was lacking in real combat experience.

It was frustrating.

Not as frustrating as how slow the mail system was though. After finding out from Charlotte that Aran had awakened I had taken to writing letters to Evan _all the time _and making sure that he replied back as fast as possible. Still though, it'd take days and sometimes weeks for the letters to go back and forth. Not to mention the fact that due to the growing monster population the mail system was taking even longer.

I was getting worried.

It was coming up soon… I just knew it. But I wasn't _ready_ yet_._

And then summer came and I was now twelve years old and graduated from Elementary school I was technically free to do what I wanted. School was only required up to sixth grade and lately a lot of kids were taking to heading to Victoria Island to become an Adventurer to protect themselves. The age limit was twelve years old after all.

Fast forward a bit into summer where I had just finished a meeting with Brighton assigning me a mission to Victoria Island. A smile escaping me due to the name _Kerning Square _popping up as the destination of said mission. It was one of my favorite Theme Dungeons and I was looking forward to seeing it in person.

But just a week later, the day before leaving I found a letter buried under one of the couch cushions. It was from Evan.

_Hey Eli,_

_You know… I've been having these dreams lately. I don't really know what they're about because I forget about most of it after I wake up but I think it has something to do with a dragon. _

_I remember you always reminding me to tell you if anything weird happens so there it is. Are you psychic or something by the way? Or maybe you've just rubbed off on me since you love dragons so much... Oh well. _

_Hope you're doing good Eli. Life on the farm is rather boring so you should come and visit soon._

_-Evan_

…

The gears were already turning and the heroes were awakening.

"...Looks like I might be gone from home for a while." I murmured to myself as I held the piece of paper in my hands. It was wrinkled and slightly faded. How long had this been there? Why hadn't I noticed it before?

My parents were already aware of my 'trip' for camp but they still expected me to start school come late August. Although my mission wasn't supposed to last for more than three weeks - still a bit of time before school started - I had the feeling I wouldn't be sticking around for long after completing it.

Because Evan was my friend, and like hell I was going to let him go through this _hero stuff _all on his own. Macey, Luke, and my family would all be fine. But Evan…

I shook my head. "That's enough of that for now Eli, gotta continue packing." And turning on my heel I headed back to my room to do just that.

However, what I didn't notice was a mess of curly purple hair and wide grey eyes peering up at me from behind the T.V.

* * *

**So so sorry. This is so late.**

**Truth is that I had a major writers block. I didn't like how this chapter was turning out so I kept rewriting it. Even now I'm kind of meh with it. **

**But anyways, I'm sorry for all the time skips. But this is the last one, really. I think. **

**The main plot is starting now. Woot. But there's still so much to cover so this story isn't ending anytime soon.**

**Oh! And if you're upset because I kind of skipped over a lot of Eliza's training then don't worry because I'll be featuring it in: Behind the Screen! So keep an eye on that because that's where I'll upload a bunch of stuff that happened between the time skips. **

**This story has actually gotten pretty long without me realizing it. It's over 75k words wow. I can't believe I accomplished that much.**

**Like with my other chapters if you have any questions or comments feel free to tell me in a review or you can PM me.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: To Victoria Island!**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 10/07/14**

**Finished Writing: 10/24/14 (Ugh I'm sorry)**


	18. The Start of an Adventure

Past The Screen

_Chapter Eighteen_

* * *

They were overreacting. I wasn't going to be gone _forever - _just a simple three weeks, give or take a few days.

And it wasn't just my parents, it was Macey, Luke, and Ali too that were overreacting. The only odd thing was that Zeno was pretty calm, or I guess mellow would be a more proper term. Sure he seemed a bit sad and all but he was nothing like his twin who all but attached herself to my leg and threw a fit as I tried to get out of the house on the morning of my departure.

"Don't leave me Eli! I'll _die _without you." She yelled resolutely as I tried to shake her off my leg. I frowned at noticing Macey and Luke's silent looks of encouragement towards her actions.

Bending down a little I placed a gloved hand on her head. The black gloves Luke got me for my birthday a couple of years ago were going to be put to good use soon.

"It's just three weeks Ali. You'll be fine-" I tried to reassure her quietly but another wail cut me off.

"No I won't be fire and _you_ won't be fine and you'll end up eaten by an Orange Mushroom I just know it!"

I made a face at her. "Orange Mushrooms are for the most part not violent." After a second the corners of my lips twitched upwards. "And I'm pretty sure I could take on an Orange Mushroom. Or at least run away fast enough to not get eaten."

"You could get mobbed." Luke added in (Rather unnecessarily in my opinion) and I glared at him slightly.

Belle's soothing yet authoritative voice interjected before things could get any worse. "Eliza will be completely fine on this trip. We have safe routes planned for her to travel on along with guides and bodyguards when necessary. Rest assured that no harm will come in contact with your daughter, sister, or friend."

"See Ali? Eliza will be _fine. _So now would be a good time to unattach yourself from her leg." Zeno smiled with the tell tale look on his face that clearly said _I-told-you-so. _

Ali huffed but still let go of my leg and stood up properly, patting the back of her jeans to get rid of any dirt on them. Meanwhile I shook said leg to try to get the blood flowing again.

"Are you sure you have everything sweetie? You've packed all your clothes, bathroom necessities?" Mom intoned worriedly, her hands clasped to her chest.

"How about money? Do you need anymore? I have my wallet with me right now so I can just give you a couple thousand more-" Dad quickly picked up where mom left off and I placed my hands out in an attempt to stop him.

Letting out a soft sigh I looked at them with pursed lips. "I've got everything don't worry, I _triple _checked. And you already gave me _plenty _of money dad. Anymore and I think I might become the target of a thief." I said the last park with a small smile, it was meant as a joke. My parents didn't see it like that though with how mom and dad's eyes widened and narrowed respectively.

"Haha, you're really funny Eliza. We better be going now, her flight is just in a bit so _goodbye she'll see you in three weeks._" Belle laughed nervously as she started pushing me towards the awaiting car. Turning around slightly I gave one last wave towards my family and friends before Belle practically shoved me into the car and quickly followed in after me.

"Oh _Kay _so that parts done and over with." She clapped her hands once and the car started moving as the driver took that as a signal to start driving. The man who was driving was obviously a Resistance member, but he was one I wasn't familiar with. "Onwards to the Adventurer Airport!" Belle continued brightly as she fiddled with the seat controls. After a couple of seconds she let out a grunt and her chair fell backwards slightly.

I raised an eyebrow at her and she waved her hand at me, her eyes already closed. "Wake me up when we get there, got it?"

"You're going to sleep? The ride isn't that long- is it?" I paused after realizing I wasn't exactly sure where we were going in the first place.

Belle opened one eye almost lazily. "It's near the edge of town so it'll take us awhile." Closing her eye I watched as her breathing evened out and I could hear slight snores. Shaking my head I leaned back into the car seat and resigned myself to looking outside of the window for the next… however long it was going to take us to get there.

However it was only a couple of seconds after that the distinct sound of a cough caught my attention.

Turning my head slightly I caught the eye of the driver through the rear-view mirror. "Something the matter?" I questioned.

"No Miss. Hertsh it's just that-"

I cut him off quickly. "No need to call me that. Just call me Eliza."

"I see… Well then Eliza-" His eyes met mine again and I smiled at him reassuringly. "I suggest you also rest much like Belle is doing. The ride will last approximately thirty minutes and since it'll be rather difficult to sleep during the journey to Victoria Island I'd recommend getting some rest now."

Difficult to sleep?

"The blimp is rather small, and the ride is a bit bumpy."

My eyes widened and I felt my face heat up a little. I must have said that out loud by accident. Whoops.

"Ah haha…" I giggled nervously before clearing my throat and continuing, "Is that so? Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to close my eyes for awhile right?"

"Right Eliza."

I nodded slightly and adjusted my position to make myself a bit more comfortable. After that I closed my eyes and before I knew it, darkness claimed me.

* * *

A couple of blocks from our destination I woke up to the feeling of a cold metal against my neck and the top of my chest. Placing my hand up to it as I blinked away sleepiness I felt the outline of the blue Evolving Ring Evan got me for my birthday through the fabric of the light blue long-sleeved shirt I was wearing.

It was comforting in the midst of the nerves I was feeling at the moment. We were almost to the Adventurer Airport which meant I was almost to Victoria Island and almost - _almost _to the place where my first official mission would take place. If I screwed up this mission then it was likely it'd be a _very _long time before I'd get to go on another mission.

But no pressure they said.

In reality that just adds even more pressure to said person though.

"What's that you've got there Eliza?"

I was jerked out of my thoughts by Belle's voice. Turning my head slightly I saw her yawning and looking at me through sleepy eyes. It looked like she had just woken up too.

Pulling on the silver chain I lifted it up from under my shirt to show the blue ring in all it's glory.

Belle's eyes widened and I could've sworn I saw them sparkle. "Ooh! Fancy ring you've got there. How come I've never seen you wear it? Where'd you get it anyways?"

"Thanks. I never thought to wear it to any training sessions because it's kind of… impractical? And my friend got me this for my birthday a couple of years ago." I told her, smiling slightly at the last part.

She whistled. "Your friend must be pretty rich huh?"

I let out a noncommittal hum in reply, averting my eyes to look back out the window as I let the chain drop and felt the ring rest against the skin below my collarbone.

We sat in silence for the next couple of minutes until we rounded a corner and finally came across the Adventurers Airport. My eyes widened slightly at it.

It wasn't really an… Airport actually. There was a small parking lot that probably couldn't hold more than a dozen cars and a worn down brick wall with an arch made into it that separated the parking lot from what looked like a docking area for a series of blimps.

"Ah, I bet it wasn't what you were expecting huh?"

Taking off my seat belt and exiting the car I shook my head and Belle's question. "No, not really."

After Belle and I waved goodbye to the driver we headed towards the docking area and she took this opportunity to tell me about the _Adventurer's Airport._

"It's not really an airport because you know, there's no planes. But a lot of Adventurers use Ace's blimp service to go between Victoria Island to here and vice-versa because it's cheap. It also doesn't need as many forms and etc. Adventurers are pretty big on saving money and don't mind the lack of comfort because most are used to it and that's pretty much how this place got it's name really." Belle explained casually, just managing to finish as we got to the area where all the blimps were.

I nodded to her when she finished and took the time to look around the place. There were three small blimps, all in fairly good condition and looked like they could hold maybe half a dozen on each one comfortably. Maybe ten if the riders squished together. There were also a few Adventurers milling about. All of them spared both me and Belle curious looks. Belle more so than me.

"Do they know about… you know?" I whispered, glancing at Belle from the corner of my eyes.

There was a pause before she answered. "Not in-depth. All they know is that there's this bad group occupying Edelstein and that I'm an important officer in the resistance group against said bad group. They won't tell, don't worry. Adventurers - well _most of them _\- know to mind their own business."

I was silent for a couple of seconds while I processed her words. "What about those people who _don't _know how to mind their own business?"

Belle smirked a little. "Then they don't make it here in the first place."

I blinked at her response and opened my mouth to say something but I was cut off by a deep voice saying-

"About time you two got here. I was getting worried that you'd be late and miss your flight."

Turning around I smiled at seeing my teacher, Brighton walking up to us. The smile slowly turned into a grin as I saw what was on top of his head.

"Oh hey Bright-" Belle's greeting was cut off as she covered her mouth to stifle the giggles she was no doubt letting out. I couldn't help but giggle a little too actually.

Brighton glared at us both but that actually just made Belle giggle even louder. He sighed and turned to me. "Please take your auras back. _Please_."

I nodded and said in as normal a voice as possible, "Hey you guys your master's here now."

One by one the small fluffy birds resting in Brighton's hair woke up and started to flutter happily about his head at spotting me.

"Oh look Eliza's here!" The yellow bird tweeted, Light.

The purple one started hopping, Star. "You're so big now it's amazing!"

"Look how nice my feathers are." The blue bird ruffled his feathers a little, Tempest.

I grinned and laid out my hands palms up and they all eagerly left Brighton's hair to settle into my small hands. They were small enough birds that they could all fit without having to worry about falling off.

Belle finished giggling soon after and then took to standing next to me to get a better view of said birds. "Wow, I didn't think you'd be able to do it Brighton but look- They're birds! But why birds? Out of all animals or whatever why them?"

Light jumped from his spot on my palms, flapping his wings indignantly. "I'm an awesome bird! What's wrong with being a bird?"

"Nothing but I was just wondering-" Belle said placating but was soon cut off by Brighton.

"They're very mobile like this, and easy to hide too since they're so small."

I nodded in agreement and brought my palms up to eye level so I could see my auras new forms up close. "You all look very beautiful guys-" The three birds preened. "But they'll be able to go back to their human forms right?" I said the second part while looking at Brighton. He nodded.

"This form is just so that they'll still be able to watch your back but not use as much of your aura as their human forms would."

"I see." I said in response as I lifted my palms upwards and the three birds happily jumped up to rest comfortably in my hair.

Belle frowned. "They're going to mess up your hair, you'll get tangles."

I waved my hand at her. "It's just my hair, I can brush it later."

"But not until after you land since your luggage is already in the blimp."

Shrugging I showed Belle my hands palms facing outwards and wiggled my fingers. "Temporary hair brush then."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, what am I going to do with you Eliza?"

"Wish me good luck on my first mission?" I answered her with a small smile.

Brighton nodded. "Good luck Eliza, you have your communicator with you right?"

I pulled slightly at the straps of my backpack. "Yup I've got it in my bag."

"Make sure you contact me when you get there and when you finish the mission okay? And also if there's any problems that occur too."

Nodding towards him I looked at Belle expectantly. She grinned. "Good luck little Eliza. I'm expecting great things from you okay?"

I laughed. "Thanks Belle. I'll try not to let you down."

A loud ringing sound ended our conversation and I noticed the Adventurers that were sitting around the docking area head towards one of the blimps. I waved goodbye at both Brighton and Belle and jogged hurriedly towards said blimp.

Digging out the ticket from my pocket I presented it towards a man with red hair and goggles on. He took my ticket and looked at me appraisingly before shaking his head.

"They're letting in people your age? That's sad."

I frowned before looking around and feeling fairly relieved at seeing that no one else was around to hear our conversation. I turned back to him. "It was my decision."

"Do you even meet the requirements to start as an Adventurer?" He asked, a hand on his hip.

Standing a little straighter I looked at him in the eye. "Yes I do actually." Barely considering that I just turned twelve a couple of weeks ago.

He raised an eyebrow and I did the same. A couple of seconds passed before a loud horn broke me out of my staring contest from him. He laughed.

"That's the spirit girl, now hurry up and get on the blimp." He said while pushing me towards the bridge that connected the dock and blimp together. He followed behind me as I got on and I looked at him confused.

He smiled at my unspoken question. "I'm the pilot Miss."

"Ah." I said in understanding and went to sit at the edge of one of the small benches in the middle of the blimp. On the other side of me was what looked to be an archer. She had long dark green hair, silver eyes, and looked kind of familiar actually…

I looked away abruptly as she turned her head to meet my stare. My face heated up slightly in embarrassment.

"You…"

I turned back around to see her staring at me intently now. I looked at her confused.

"Were you on a trip to Victoria Island about five years ago?"

My eyes widened and I was hit by a sudden realization. "You're Amie?"

Amie nodded and smiled slightly. "I had a feeling it was you. It's hard not to remember your hair, although it's a bit shorter now isn't it?"

I nodded. My hair wasn't just _a bit _shorter compared to how it was five years ago. It was now a bit past shoulder length compared to the waist length hair I had before.

"It's nice seeing you again." I added after a short pause.

The archer hummed. "Yes it is." She looked upwards towards the top of my head. "Are those… your pets?"

I blinked before realizing that she was talking about my auras. "Ah yes, I guess you could say that they're my pets."

"We're not just pets! We're-" Light's voice was cut off to unintelligible muffling, as if the mouth was being covered by something. I wasn't sure since I couldn't exactly see what was happening.

Tempest's voice rang out clear next. "He means to say that we're friends to Eliza, we're not _just _her pets."

I cocked my head slightly (not too much because Light and the others were on it after all) at Amie's surprised expression. Brighton told me that talking pets weren't exactly rare after all.

"Something wrong?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No, it's just that I'm surprised that your birds seem quite intelligent. Having talking pets isn't that big of a deal but most can only say simple things."

I blinked and looked at her almost blankly before forcing a smile. "Ah well… I guess I'm just lucky then?"

She didn't look all that convinced but nodded her head in agreement anyways. "I suppose so."

The next couple of hours were spent in what seemed like comfortable silence. I passed it by reading my _Monster Encyclopedia _book and playing with my auras. Occasionally some of the Adventurers on board, including Amie, would engage in small talk with me and (excluding Amie) ask about my pets.

After seeing nothing but the endless blue of the sky and the ocean I leapt up at seeing the faint green outline that signaled the nearing of Ellinia, and our landing spot. The dock for the blimp turned out to be a bit away from the one to Ossyria, and according to Amie- just a little ways away from a privately owned dock. It was guarded by human-like bird creatures that no one seemed keen on getting past.

_Ereve, that's the docking area to get to Ereve I bet. _Was my first thought after hearing that. Immediately afterwards due to our shared connection, my auras wanted to storm the dock and get on a ferry and head over to Ereve ASAP. I couldn't blame them really, they just wanted to see both Oz and Alex. I'd probably get thrown into jail though if I did that and after projecting that thought to them they settled down a bit.

After grabbing my luggage and saying goodbye to Amie before going our separate ways I headed towards a more secluded part of the town to inform Brighton of my safe arrival in Ellinia. It was a quick simple conversation and soon enough I was left to just standing there in the shade of the branch I had chosen to stay behind.

"So what now Eliza?" Star's cheerful voice asked.

I thought for a moment before looking at my watch, it was already late in the afternoon. "I think we should head to the Inn. We can head to Kerning City in the morning."

"Sounds good to me." Was Tempest's reply and I heard Light tweet in agreement. With that being said we set off towards…

"Wait… Where is the Inn anyways?" I wondered out loud.

Somehow I felt like my auras were face palming at me.

* * *

Half an hour later and I still couldn't find the Inn. I mentally cursed how big Ellinia was, why couldn't it be smaller?

"You should just ask someone for directions." Tempest tweeted matter-of-factly.

I shook my head, "That's so embarrassing."

Star pecked my head. "Not as embarrassing as walking around aimlessly I would think."

Frowning I opened my mouth to reply but I was cut off as I bumped into someone. Unfortunately this occurred on one of Ellinia's narrower pathways, and by pathways I mean thick branch walkways.

Now, what do you think happens when me plus narrow pathway plus bumping into someone equals? It equals me falling off said narrow pathway.

My scream got caught in my throat and my auras squawked in surprise and near terror. Frantically I called upon my mana to activate _teleport _but before I could even start the fast-acting spell I was already engulfed in blue light and feeling solid branch underneath me.

"Are you okay?" A young man asked me in concern. I was sitting exactly where I was standing just a couple of seconds ago and he was crouched in front of me, an intricate looking wand held in his right hand.

I nodded slowly, still trying to process everything when I was pretty much _attacked _by my auras. Their worry must've messed something up with their speech because all I could hear were unintelligible tweets and other bird sounds coming from them.

The young man stood up and extended a hand towards me. I took it gratefully and stood up too. "Thank you um…" I trailed off, looking at him almost expectantly.

"James. By any chance do you remember me Eliza?" He smiled at me. I blinked back at him before something in my mind clicked.

"You were my class's guide a couple of years ago when we came here!" I said in realization before pausing, and wondering why I seemed to be bumping in to people from that trip years ago. "How did you remember me?"

He laughed. "I naturally have a very good memory, and your hair color is rather hard to forget. Besides-" His expression turned almost nostalgic. "Oz used to talk to about you a lot."

"Used to?" I mimicked.

James looked at me confused. "She didn't tell you that she moved out of Ellinia? I assumed you were still in contact with her."

"Oh, I am. Sorry, it just kind of slipped my mind I guess." I smiled sheepishly at him. A beat passed and he smiled too.

"Well what brings you here to Ellinia? Planning on becoming a Magician maybe? You look to be about twelve."

I shook my head slowly. "No… I'm just here to explore I guess. Broaden my horizons?" I felt kind of bad lying right after just meeting him again but it couldn't be helped. I couldn't tell him about my mission after all.

James frowned. "Explore? That's kind of dangerous don't you think?"

"Ah, well I can protect myself don't worry. But um… Besides that could you uh…" I looked towards my feet as I tried to form the words in a proper order. "Could you tell me where the Inn is?" I smiled hopefully at him.

He blinked, and then grinned. "Of course, it's not too far from here anyways. I'll walk you."

Beaming I thanked him and after grabbing the handle of my luggage (which luckily hadn't fallen off the branch with me) we both set off towards the Inn.

* * *

"That was nice of him to walk you here, and to tell you the fastest and safest way to Kerning City." Light said from his spot on the bed in my Inn room.

I nodded in agreement as I dried my damp hair with a towel. As soon as we had reached the Inn I had taken to asking James how to get to Kerning City, and after repeatedly assuring him that _no I wasn't going to become a Thief_ he told me of the fastest and safest route from Ellinia to Kerning City. Afterwards upon entering my newly rented Inn room I immediately went to take a shower, and that brings us back to where we are now.

"But four hours? And that's by _bus_." Star whined as she flew around the room.

"What's wrong with going by bus?" Tempest questioned, he was perched atop the bedside lamp.

Star fluffed her feathers. "How are we supposed to fight monsters if we're going there by _car. _I wanted to walk so we'd be able to kick some butt along the way."

"We don't know if we're going by bus just yet." I informed her, sitting on the bed but being careful to not sit on Light.

The purple bird tweeted in joy. "We're not?" Followed by the two others parroting the same in albeit less enthusiastic tones.

I pursed my lips. "Five thousand mesos is a lot of money."

"Yeah I guess it is but how much money did your parents _and _Brighton them give you?" Light asked curiously.

I paused to think about it for a second. "Mom and dad gave me twenty thousand and Brighton and the others together gave me ten thousand."

"And how much money did _you _bring from your own personal stash Eliza?" Star asked matter-of-factly.

Avoiding eye contact I mumbled a number under my breath. "Hmm? I didn't quite hear that." Star tweeted all knowingly.

Grimacing I told them, "Ten thousand."

Light jumped up from his spot on the bed and flew in a circle around my head. "That's _forty thousand_ Eliza! Five thousand for a simple bus ride is nothing compared to that."

"It's not _nothing _Light. It's an eighth of my funds which is supposed to last me for _three weeks!_"

Tempest flew over to me and settled himself into my newly washed hair. "We could always just go monster hunting and sell the drops for mesos if we run low."

I sighed, they seemed to be really determined on this. "Do you guys really want me to ride the bus there then?"

"Yes!" Tempest and Light chorused.

"No." Star said blankly. "But I'm outnumbered so oh well. I expect for you to go hunting around Kerning City when we get there because I won't be happy until I get to see you kick some monster butt."

Shaking my head I couldn't help but smile. "Fine, we'll take the bus there. James said the next one is the day after tomorrow. We'll buy my ticket tomorrow and go hunting around Ellinia, sound good to you guys?"

Star cheered, her wings flapping excited and the two boys tweeted their agreements.

* * *

The next morning I was awake and ready to go at six. Despite my auras protests we left the room at that time and headed down to the Inn's kitchen to whip me up a simple breakfast of buttered toast. Afterwards we left the Inn and using the chef's directions we managed to exit the town's borders since it turned out that the ticket buying place wasn't actually open this early.

Now we were venturing into the surrounding area, looking for some unsuspecting monsters for me to practice fighting on.

"Over here Eliza! I see some slimes!" Star's excited tweets reached my ears and I steadily made my way over to where she was, glowing faintly purple amidst the trees.

The grip I had on my staff - a long black rod with a red circle on the top with three yellow smaller rods sticking out of the circle, it resembled the _Hall Staff _from the game and was about three feet in length - was firm and using my free left hand I snapped loudly three times. Each snap had an accompanying flicker of white light as the mana flowed in the air.

With the first snap a dark purple circle about two and a half feet in diameter appeared on the ground beneath my feet and flames of the same color erupted from it, burning in a circular motion and keeping the same shape as I moved. The second snap caused the flames to change to yellow, the third to blue. My flame-like aura reached a bit higher than my knees and it alternated between purple, yellow, and blue every ten seconds or so.

I grinned, feeling my strength along with my senses, speed, and defense rise. With my aura lighting up the area (which was still kind of dark) a bit more I could see the slimes near where Star was. Increasing my pace I called upon my mana and swung my staff in an arc in front of me while chanting, _Staff Booster_. Purple energy surrounded my staff for second before being absorbed, causing it to glow the same purple for a few seconds. This spell lightened my staff a bit, letting me attack faster.

Next I raised my staff up vertically and chanted, _Blood Drain_. An intricate circle that consisted of various shapes the color of bright yellow and shades of orange appeared in front of me and seemed to complete itself - the empty spots filling themselves with color - before fading away. This particular spell drained some of the life energy of whatever I was attacking, not only filling up the life energy I was using in the first place while fighting but also helping to heal any wounds I had too.

As soon as I finished casting Blood Drain I reached the area where Star was with Tempest and Light following close behind me. There was in fact quite a bit of slimes in this area.

Letting out a breath I mentally prepared myself before launching at the closest slime. My eyes narrowed and I built up my mana and smiled at the familiar streak of white and purple that engulfed my staff. I performed my simple three-strike combo aka _Triple Blow _(I was capable of _Quad Blow _which was a four-strike combo since I was now a second tier Battle Mage but it seemed like a bit of an overkill) on the slime and I was surprised to see it fade away after only the first hit. My last two strikes were done to empty air but I knew better than to stop in the middle of the spell's sequence, I could deal with the wasted mana.

After the death of one of their own the other slimes converged towards me and I handled the rest of them - about a dozen or so - swiftly. That left me in the middle of a bunch of newly dropped squishy green liquids.

Out of curiosity I walked over to one and tried to pick it up. Immediately after touching it I recoiled back. Hastily I wiped the green liquid slime off my finger on the branch I was standing on - not wanting to get it on my clothes.

"Hey Eliza, why do monsters fade away after you kill them? And how do they come back anyways?" Light questioned me as I furiously wiped off the slime on my finger.

I paused before answering, trying to remember the words from my Monster Encyclopedia. "It's said that the soul's of monsters are different from humans and animals. While after dying we go to the afterlife the monsters have no such thing. Due to that they take their bodies with them when they die so that after time has passed and they regain their strength they can take form again."

"But that's just a theory right?" Star asked as I started walking, trying to find more monsters to fight.

I nodded. "It's hard to say for sure. But that's the most accepted theory… Or at least I think it is." The conversation died there and I spent the next half an hour or so walking around, fighting and beating monsters. There was mostly slimes but I occasionally ran into mushrooms. All faded after the first hit.

"This is boring now. Isn't there any stronger monsters?" Star whined slightly from her spot where she was resting in my hair.

"Probably but I don't want to go too far from the town. And speaking of the town-" I looked at my watch. "We should get back so I can buy my ticket for that bus tomorrow."

My auras tweeted in agreement and I canceled both Staff Booster and Blood Drain before heading back in the direction of where we had come from.

* * *

"Am I correct in guessing that you're here to buy the ticket for the bus I told you about yesterday?" A voice called out to me from behind.

I turned to see James walking up to me - with a _posse. _A posse of girls if I may add. Like his own harem.

At the moment I was with my auras at the 'ticket distribution center' as the woman at the counter had called it. I was waiting for them to bring up some paperwork for me to sign - a safety waiver or something like that - which should have deterred me from going this way but only seemed to fuel me on.

"Eliza?"

I blinked and looked up to him, my train of thought broken. "Eh? Ah sorry-" I smiled at him sheepishly. "I just got lost in thought for a second there but yes, I'm here to buy the ticket for that bus you told me about."

That caused James and his trio of girls to frown almost instantly.

I cocked my head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"... I don't think you should get on that bus tomorrow Eliza." He said solemnly, causing me to frown and my auras to flutter around me almost anxiously.

I waited a beat before asking, "Why is that? Yesterday you were telling me how safe it was?

"There's been some… Complications." The girl on James's right said. I looked at her, silently asking for her to elaborate. She did so after a glance at James. "The trip to Kerning City involves passing near the edges of Sleepywood." She looked at me and frowned at noticing my lake of expression. I raised an eyebrow at her.

I wasn't stupid after all, I knew geography so of course I'd know that we'd be passing by Sleepywood. I looked at the map trail for the bus as soon as I got here so there was that too.

The girl continued. "We've heard that monsters over there were becoming a bit chaotic. Now the trip to Kerning City doubles as a monster hunt. It would be a bad idea for a civilian like you to get involved with it." The girl to the other side of James then decided to speak up.

"You might die." She stated worriedly.

I linked my hands in front of me to resist the urge of crossing my arms. "Well it's not like I'd be the only one on the bus right? And I told you James, I can take care of myself just fine."

James let out an exasperated sigh. "Please Eliza, just don't go on the trip. It's better to be safe than sorry after all don't you think? The next trip will be in a week, I'm sure you can wait that long can't you?"

Biting the inside of my cheek I forced a small smile. Internally however my mind was whirling. _A week? _Yeah, I needed to be back in Edelstein in _three weeks _and I was definitely not going to sit around and do _nothing _for a week.

I didn't let any of my thoughts show as I said, "I see. I'm sure I can wait a week. Thank you for telling me about this James." I smiled sweetly, a bit too sweet I think. It's a wonder how they didn't realize it was fake.

James and his posse looked immensely relieved at hearing that and I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. And also wonder silently to myself when I became so good at lying too.

After that we said our goodbyes and I told the woman at the counter that I wasn't looking to buy a ticket for the bus ride, _at least for now_ I told her. She looked at me in confusion but put my papers nearby after I answered a positive to her question: _Will you be back to buy it later then?_

She was no doubt confused but I beamed at her with all the innocence and happiness I could muster which seemed to settle her worries just a tiny bit.

Upon returning to my Inn room I was bombarded by my auras. All asking questions and being infinitely curious.

I smiled and told them, "If I buy the ticket now no doubt James would hear wind of this and try to stop me. I'll go buy it tomorrow morning right before the bus leaves so that he can't stop me."

Star expressed a slight amount of displeasure at this. It seemed like she was rather fond of James due to his almost older-brotherly worry for me.

Shrugging I said, "I'm my own person and although I'm happy that he cares for me, what he's doing is a bit too much."

And with that being said I went to sleep with the aim of getting up very early the next morning.

* * *

After buying the ticket (my poor wallet, the price had been increased a thousand mesos making it six thousand instead of five thousand) Star insisted on seeing James one last time. She claimed that if we didn't then the guilt of just leaving him would be absolutely unbearable. I for one didn't really understand her. But then I realized how flustered she was and I thought to myself, _Oh dear goddess I know my auras are technically me but they're still their own person right? Right?_

So I tried not to notice what the implications of Star's behavior was and did my two snaps to activate my blue and light auras. Defense to help mask my presence and speed to get away quickly if needed.

Soon enough we reached near where Star had designated James was - and office of sorts - (I didn't bother asking how she knew where he was) and one more snap to activate dark aura to increase my eyesight and hearing I approached it cautiously.

I almost wished we hadn't gone, and that I didn't give in to Star's demands this one time. It might have been better to be ignorant in this case in my opinion.

"-you sure about this James?"

I paused, my improved hearing catching wind of a conversation. It sounded like one of the girls from James's posse from the day before.

"Yes. It's for the best Pati, you felt it didn't you? Her mana is different and she's just a civilian. I could have just passed it off as her being unique if she was a Magician but even then - it's nothing like I've ever seen. She needs to be kept under watch and examination. I have no doubt that she'll become an excellent Magician and the Elders would probably want to keep an eye on her and definitely would want to make sure she's taught the ways of magic properly." James voice rang in my head and I felt a chill run through my body.

A sigh was heard. "But lying to her about that bus ride? Was that really necessary?"

"It was the best I could come up with on such short notice." Was James reply. I frowned and turned to Star who was flying nearby. Even as a bird I could tell her expression was rather down. She turned to look at me after noticing my gaze and nodded.

I was gone in the next second, silently running through the pathways of Ellinia to get to where the bus stop was.

So my mana is different huh? It's only to be expected with the type of magic I do I suppose. But who were these _Elders_?

The Maple World really just seems to get more and more complicated the longer I'm here.

* * *

A little over four hours later I was stepping into the entrance of Kerning City. The other adventurers on the trip (mostly Thieves and Warriors judging by their clothing but oddly no Magicians) had filed out from the bus quickly - they were already heading towards their destinations.

Me on the other hand…

"So the mission…" I mumbled to myself quietly as I moved through the streets of Kerning City.

_Resistance spies have gotten wind that something weird has happened to Kerning Square Shopping Center. Investigate what's happened and if possible - fix it. Time limit three weeks._

"We should head to the subway, it's still early in the day so we can get some work done right?" Light tweeted. He was perched on my left shoulder, Tempest on my right, and Star in my hair. It caused me to gain a few weird looks but I ignored them.

Nodding my head slightly I agreed. "The subway should be right over there." I said as I made a turn and lo and behold, there it was.

Entering it I noticed the distinct lack of people. It was a wide and expansive area, what one would expect of the subway. There was however only two people inside. Both were workers by the looks of their uniforms.

I walked up to the nearest one, he was standing by the ticket gates. "Excuse me? How can I get to Kerning Square Shopping Center?"

He looked at me weirdly. "Why would you want to go there? You don't work there do you?" He looked at me up and down. "And you don't really look all that much like an Adventurer either."

I frowned. "I just want to go there, is there something wrong with that?"

"It's pretty dangerous to go there right now girlie - that's why there's no one here at the moment." He gestured to the empty space. "The only people who go there are the workers, partly because they have to and partly because they're insane and have just gotten used to it already."

"Dangerous? No matter. I still want to go." I told him blandly and got out my wallet. So the spies were right huh, I definitely needed to investigate this. "So how much would it cost me?"

He looked at me in disbelief before shrugging. "Well if you want to so much I guess I can't stop you. That kid earlier took out all my energy anyways so I don't want to deal with you. It's three hundred mesos for both ways so hand it over."

I gave him the three hundred mesos and gave me a ticket that read _Return ticket to Kerning City Subway Station _and then gestured towards one of the subways.

I was about to head towards it before I remembered what he just said. "Wait, there was someone else?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, weird kid. I kept telling him that it was dangerous but he wouldn't listen and kept saying that he could take care of himself just fine." He looked at me appraisingly. "You two are kind of alike with that attitude and those birds of yours." He huffed and mumbled under his breath. "Kids these days and their weird pets."

Raising my eyebrow at him I waved goodbye and then got on without much of a fuss. The subway started immediately after I sat down and I swayed, listening to some weird music akin to the kind you would hear in an elevator.

The ride was a bit short though, around ten minutes and I got off quickly as soon as the doors opened. I stepped on to the metal pavement and looked around. Once again I was met with an empty station with only a sparse amount of workers in sight.

Walking through it I headed for the exit - almost making it to the turnstiles but I stopped as I heard voices talking.

"You would help me with my dream? Why?"

I tilted my head to the side causing Star to squeak a little. Was that Blake? He was the main character of the Theme Dungeon and his dream was to become a singer… Or at least that's what I think it was. My memory wasn't all that good from the game since it's been years after all.

"Well I like helping people so really it's no problem."

I froze - well I had already stopped walking but even more so now - that voice, it sounded like…

"But the mall's pretty dangerous right now. I don't want you getting hurt or anything because of me." Most likely Blake said.

The familiar voice chuckled. "Yeah well I'm sure me and Mir can handle it!"

I took a step forward, then another, until I was walking and then jogging because _no way, Is that really-?_

Stepping past the turnstile I blinked away the spots covering my eyes from the bright lights and heard,

"Really? Thanks so much… Oh, who's this?"

My vision cleared just in time for me to see a boy my age with short slightly wavy brown hair turn around from where his back was facing me previously. Our eyes met and I watched as his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock.

"E-Eliza?"

I could only smile and wave my hand weakly. "Hi Evan."

* * *

**Yo! New chapter guys tada~**

**This chapter was a pain to write because I tried to find out what Evan's storyline actually was before writing it and since I couldn't find much on the internet I went and _made_ an Evan. **

**It's like level 48 right now and no where finished as you can see. I kind of just gave up and was just like: Oh well I'm just going to start writing anyways. So yeah. **

**I think this chapter is pretty okay. And yeah... I don't have much to say actually- **

**Oh yeah. If you can't tell I was having a hard time describing the Battle Mage skill's Eliza was using earlier. Hopefully I'll get better at it in time.**

**Well I think that's it. See you guys again in a week, or two? Ack I'm sorry for the late update.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Hello Evan and Mir~**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 10/26/14**

**Finished Writing: 11/11/2014 (Oh look 11/11)**


	19. Talking About Heroes

Past The Screen

_Chapter Nineteen _(partly unedited, I skimmed through it and I'll go back and look through it more thoroughly tomorrow)

* * *

_I could only smile and wave my hand weakly. "Hi Evan."_

Really Eliza? That's all you can think of to say to your best friend who you haven't seen in years?

It seemed to do the trick though and Evan snapped out of his shock to grin at me brightly.

"Eliza! What are you doing here? I- I thought you were in Edelstein!" After saying a few short words to Blake (I assumed were a quick goodbye), he jogged the sparse distance between us so that he was standing in front of me and beckoned Mir over.

The Onyx Dragon was not small in the least bit maybe five feet tall and seemed to have a wingspan of about four or five feet. However it didn't seem like Mir was full-grown yet, he wouldn't be for a long while by my estimate so that meant he was only going to get bigger and bigger. Belatedly I wondered just how Evan fit him into doorways.

Mir cocked his head to the side slightly, staring at me. "You are my master's… friend?"

I paused, slightly confused by the boyish high-pitched voice I was hearing (it didn't seem like the voice of a dragon that was taller than me but somehow Mir made it work) before shooting him a small smile. "Ah yes, I am. It's nice to meet you, uh?" I glanced at Evan for help, feigning ignorance as to who the dragon in front of me and he understood immediately.

"Oh! Mir this is Eliza, I told you about her remember?" Mir gave a nod and Evan continued. "Eliza this is Mir my… pet."

Mir huffed a little, flapping his wings a bit in what I assumed to be slight annoyance. "Really master? Pet? I'm your partner! I mean we have that whole spirit-" He was cut off when Evan nudged him none-too-subtly. Mir gave his master a look of confusion while Evan returned it with a look that clearly said _be quiet_.

I watched all this happen with a small smile on my face. With Mir and Evan quickly falling into what seemed to be normal friendly banter I took the time to observe my best friend. He seemed to have changed a bit over the years in ways that our letters didn't really show.

He was a couple of inches taller than me now and his slightly messy brown hair was slightly longer than I remembered. His clothes consisted of a dark blue t-shirt and a faded red jacket paired with black jeans and blue hiking boots. Not what I'd expect initially for a Magician like him to wear but after noticing the faint mana contained in his clothes it all made sense. Although it looked like normal clothes they were magically reinforced, just like mine. But still, where was his wand, or staff? A staff wouldn't fit in the brown backpack he was carrying so did that mean he used a wand?

For me I kept my staff in my magic backpack and was able to summon it at any moment and return it back due to a simple but helpful summoning and return spell Brighton taught me. It used up a bit of mana, more so the farther away and bigger an object was but it was incredibly useful and saved me the trouble of doing something like strapping my staff to my back or having to reach into my bag to get it every time I needed it.

A hand waving in front of my face snapped me out of my thoughts and I smiled sheepishly at Evan.

"You okay there? You were spacing out." His voice asked me sounding slightly concerned.

I nodded. "Yeah I just…" I motioned to the space in between us. "I feel like we have a lot of catching up to do. I mean, I read your last letter and all but I've got a feeling that a lot has happened since then." I finished, looking rather pointedly at Mir.

Evan scratched the back of his head absent-mindedly while chuckling. "Yeah I guess you could say that. A lot has happened, really I don't even know where to start with telling you honestly."

"Well you could certainly start with just how you ended up with Mir. That'd be nice." I noted casually as I led him towards a nearby bench.

After we all sat down - me and Evan on the bench with Mir seated on the floor next to his master - Evan regaled his tale starting with his dreams and ending with him at Kerning City. It was all of course shortened and summarized to get to the point of things but from what he gave me I was pleased to see that things had followed _mostly _to the canon storyline.

The only difference between what Evan was doing now compared to his game counterpart was that he wasn't involved in that 'secret organization' (cough -_Black Wings- _cough). Which was a good thing, I was glad he had taken my _don't talk to creepy strangers _saying to heart.

However there were one- no, _two _things that I noticed didn't quite add up, or well, make any sense.

Taking a few seconds to supposedly 'digest' what I had just heard (I didn't really need to since I kind of knew already but for acting sakes you know) I instead used that time to formulate a certain question. A question to kill two birds with one stone.

Looking at Evan with just a hint of curiosity showing in my expression I asked, "So… How did your family react to you being a hero and all that?"

"Hero?" Evan repeated, looking at me in confusion before his expression melted away into slight horror.

Mentally filing away Evan's confusion at being called a Hero (which didn't make sense because he's Freud's successor therefore making him a Hero) I focused on his now horrified expression. Lifting up one of my hands I ran it over my face before using it to tuck a loose lock of hair behind my hair. I looked at him almost helplessly and sighed.

"You didn't tell him about your little adventure now did you?"

He shook his head slowly before leaning back on the bench and closing his eyes before groaning. I nodded sympathetically even though he couldn't see me.

"What's wrong Master?" Mir intoned worriedly. When his master only lifted up his hands to cover his eyes and mumble something incoherent he looked at me for an explanation.

I made a vague gesture with my hands as I tried to explain to the Onyx dragon what was the problem here. "Well you see um, you remember Evan's family right?"

Mir nodded and even added in a little comment, "Those people who thought I was a lizard."

I grinned a little. "Ah yes, those people." Clapping my hands together I continued. "Evan kind of forgot to tell them where he was going and what he was doing."

"What's wrong with that though?" Mir seemed honestly curious, like he didn't understand it at all. I could forgive him for that though, it couldn't have been all that long since he had been 'born' and Evan wasn't really one for heart-to-heart talks about social customs or stuff like that.

Tapping a finger to my forehead I thought about a way to explain to Mir in a way that he could understand. "Well, how would you feel if one day Evan left out of the blue and didn't tell you where he was going or what he was planning to do?"

Mir's eyes widened and his mouth opened to no doubt shout denial's probably revolving around _master would never do that! _before his mind realized the parallels between what I had just said.

He then nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. That's very bad then." Mir turned to look at his master almost reproachingly. "Why didn't you tell your family master?"

Said master lifted his hands from where they were covering his eyes and sat up. He let out a sigh as he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even further. "Well… It just kind of slipped my mind really. I mean, we were just so busy helping people and then _looking _for people who needed help I just… I was so focused on that and forgot about everything else really."

"You didn't forget about Eliza." Mir noted and I couldn't help but cock my head to the side slightly in interest.

"Oh?"

Mir nodded. "Master told me a bunch of stuff about you so he definitely didn't forget about you."

I turned to look at Evan for an explanation and found him smiling slightly. He shrugged. "It was kind of hard to forget about you considering that this whole situation was incredibly ironic in terms related to you."

"How so?" I stared at him, not really understanding the point.

Evan squirmed a bit under my stare but answered my question nonetheless. "You would often tell me about how much you wanted to be a Magician. Cause you liked magic and all that while I'd say that I wanted to be an archer. But then look what happened-" He reached into his jacket to procure a light blue wand holding a spherical yellow gem at the top. That looked to be a _Cromi _wand my brain supplied to me helpfully from my game-memories. "I became a Magician, maybe not a _normal _one but a Magician still." He finished shrugging before looking at me, seemingly trying to gauge my reaction to his statements.

Not really knowing what a _good _reaction would be I decided to just go with how I was honestly feeling. "That's nice Evan. I knew you'd make a good Magician."

He blinked in surprise before leaning forward to look at me more clearly. I leaned back in return and stared at him resolutely.

"You're not… Mad or anything?" He asked carefully.

Furrowing my brows I asked in return, "Why would I be mad?"

"Well… I just thought you might be I guess, jealous that I was a Magician? Since you know, you really wanted to be one…" He trailed off.

I smiled at him, which seemed to catch him off guard for a second. I waved my hand in a calming gesture, "Ah, don't worry about it Evan. Actually I've got some stuff I need to confess too." He looked at me in anticipation and I waited a beat before saying, "I'm kind of a Magician too."

He blinked before his eyes widened almost comically. "Wait what, really?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but like you I'm not really a normal Magician."

His expression changed to one of understanding and he looked up at the top of my head. "So does it happen to involve those birds on your head then? They're emitting mana, if only a little bit."

Now it was my turn for my eyes to widen. "Wait, you can tell that they're emitting mana?"

Evan looked taken aback for a second. "Am I not supposed to?"

I thought about it for a second, trying to remember what Brighton had told me about this certain topic. "Well, it's normal for Magicians to be able to sense mana since we use it so much to do spells. Likewise the more you use mana the easier it is to sense it. For that reason… The amount of mana that my birds are emitting is _extremely _low." Because it just wouldn't do for another Magician to notice them as anything other than pets you know? "Only those that have been practicing with mana for a very long time should be able to sense the mana that they're emitting. It's incredible that you're able to really." I beamed at him feeling amazed and happy for him all the same.

My best friend seemed at a loss for words. I realized sadly that he probably was never praised so fiercely before and I internally resolved to do it more often.

"But- But why would I be able to? I mean… I don't understand." He was tumbling over his words, his eyes still wide and even Mir seemed surprised underneath all his smug expression at hearing how amazing his master was. "I just… I'm just a farm boy. I shouldn't be able to…" He trailed off, the words hanging off in the air.

I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder to catch his attention. "You're just awesome like that Evan. You don't need any other reason as to why you should be able to do that."

Evan let out a small chuckle at that but he still looked a bit confused and hesitant. He still didn't really believe it.

Hitting him on the head slightly I crossed my arms as he looked at me in confusion. "If you really want an actual explanation I guess I'd just say you have a talent for it. You're gifted, a prodigy. Destined for greatness and all that."

"But-" I cut him off with a raised palm and continued. "I wasn't done yet. Do you remember what I called you earlier when I was asking about your family?"

He blinked and thought about it, trying to remember when Mir spoke up for him. "You called master a Hero."

Evan's eyes widened in realization before turning back into confusion. "Yeah, that's right. Why'd you call me that I mean, I'm not a hero. Sure I help people but that's not really…"

"You're not an _actual _Hero I guess but you're one in name, sort of." At both of their confused looks I elaborated a bit. "How much do you know about the five Heroes of the Maple World?"

"They're… They sealed away the Black Mage a long time ago right? That's what I remembered mom telling me when I was little." Evan said, looking at me weirdly. "What does that have to do with this?"

I grinned. "I'm glad you asked. Your parents didn't tell you about who they were right?" He shook his head and I continued. "Well, it's like this. There's five Heroes: Aran, Mercedes, Freud, Phantom, and Luminous." I didn't miss both Evan and Mir perking up at hearing Freud's name, as if the name sounded a bit familiar to them. However I did feel a little guilty at leaving out Shade but no one was supposed to remember him… Except for the fact that I remembered him. Hmm… That's something to think about later on.

"Freud? His name sounds kind of familiar. Like… I haven't heard it before but I feel like I should know it kind of?" Evan frowned but seemed intrigued, ditto for Mir.

"That's only natural considering that you're his successor." I beamed, which caused his eyes to widen and his mouth to drop open in shock.

"Wha-?" Evan tried to speak and I patted his shoulder consolingly.

Humming I wondered to myself that if Evan didn't know about this should I really be telling him about it? Half of me was thinking, no probably not. The other half however was all but yelling, _yes _goddess _definitely _he needed to know this because I wasn't going to let my best friend into this Hero thing _blind _and not knowing anything.

Not surprisingly the other half won.

Continuing where I left off, "Freud was a Dragon Master just like you. With an Onyx Dragon and Spirit Pact and everything. However unlike the rest of the Heroes instead of being frozen in ice by the Black Mage's final attack he… died." My face formed into one of disgruntled confusion. Neither my game-memories or the few books I found in the library about the Heroes had much to say on that matter. It was rather vague about the final battle in all it's entirely actually.

"Wait… The Heroes were frozen in ice?" Evan questioned, it seemed like he was getting used to being surprised by me. It was wearing off faster.

I nodded. "Yes, right before the Black Mage was sealed he was able to give one last curse to the Heroes. That led to them being frozen in ice. However Freud wasn't because… I think it was because his dragon took the curse for him." That was more of my game-memories speaking and not actual book reading but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Evan frowned, the gears in his head working non-stop. "How about… Where's the Heroes then? And Freud's dragon? What happened after the battle?"

I shook my head. "No one knows really. They all disappeared. The only reason why they know that the Heroes were frozen was due to research done at the place the final battle took place which showed the type of curse the Black Mage used. Apparently an extremely high-level one that no one could think to recast of course but it served as a basis of knowledge. Although after accepting that Freud's dragon along with the other Heroes were frozen in ice due to the curse and teleported probably only goddess knows where there was a fierce manhunt for Freud. They never found him though. It was theorized that Freud died shortly after the battle from his wounds however."

I waited patiently for Evan to digest the information. After all, when I had first read about it in the library years ago I had been pretty shocked too. And sad of course for Freud. That was just plain depressing.

"Sorry Eli it's just… This is a lot to take in." Evan said after awhile. I nodded patiently and he continued. "So… Since Freud is dead and I've got a Spirit Pact with Mir then I'm his successor?" He clarified and I nodded again. "But why would he need a successor? I mean, Maple World is pretty peaceful now after all…" He trailed off as understand dawned on him.

He bit his lip and I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking. "The Black Mage… He's coming back isn't he?" He murmured quietly, I barely heard him.

This time I whispered a faint _yes _in response before revising my answer. "It's just a theory I've come up with. I don't know for certain. I'm surprised you figured it out though, you're a lot smarter than you make it out to be." I tried to finish with a smile but I had a feeling it didn't work.

Evan's expression showed confusion, shock, and just a slight amount of fear. The first two of which I had entirely expected, the last however… Why was he scared-?

"I-I can't. I'm not... " Evan's voice interrupted my thoughts, he sounded small and maybe a little hopeless too.

I bit my lip and waited but when he didn't finish his sentence I prompted him with a soft, "Evan?"

He shook his head fiercely. "There's no way. I _can't _be a hero Eli. I'm not… I'm not brave or strong or, or anything a hero needs to be!"

"You know most people would be saying the opposite actually." I couldn't help but say, a smile tugging at my lips.

Evan looked at me incredulously before letting out an exasperated sigh. "It's just. It's not that I don't want to be, I mean-" He looked over to Mir who had stayed quiet throughout the entire conversation. The two exchanged a look and some sort of understanding passed between them before he continued. "I want to be a hero I guess. I like… I like helping people. But I can't be _that_ Hero."

"_That _Hero?" I repeated, not really understanding what he was saying.

"If the Black Mage is coming back, then the only Heroes this world needs are people who are willing to and are strong enough to fight against him. To save the world and that's too much Eliza. I'm just..." He paused.

I frowned slightly. Just… what?

"I'm just a kid." He finished quietly, almost too quietly.

My eyes widened.

_Oh. That's… right._

Mentally I slapped myself. How could I forget. Evan was just… He was only what? Thirteen years old? Probably, he was only a year older than me after all. This must have been such a shock for him. I was basically telling him that, _oh you know you're this guy's successor which means you're a Hero and that you'll probably have to fight the Black Mage in the future you know but no big deal right? _

"I- I'm sorry Evan." I said after a moment of silence. He looked at me quizzically in turn and I sighed. "I shouldn't have told you that. I should've known you'd react like this. I didn't mean to make you feel so… yeah." I finished by making a vague hand gesture, not really knowing how to sum up his emotions at the moment. I was pretty sure it was somewhere around being confused, scared, and shocked all at one time. Complicated stuff really.

There was another period of silence and I couldn't help but fidget a bit. Why wasn't he saying anything? Was he that upset with me? With himself?

I was jerked out of my thoughts by Evan standing up all of a sudden with what sounded like a growl.

"Who are you and what have you done to Eliza?" He accused, pointing a finger at me.

I blinked. "Wait, what?" That… Made no sense. Mostly because I _really was _Eliza.

Evan crossed his arms and said matter-of-factly, "Eliza wouldn't say something like that. She doesn't let anything get her down, not for long at least. She does whatever she wants, acts however she wants even if it doesn't make sense and _would not _apologize for being the slightly oblivious, weird, and nice girl she is."

My eyes were slightly wide. I wasn't… Expecting a speech like that. It was kind of nice to hear it actually-

Wait, did he just call me-

"Did you just call me oblivious and weird?" I stood up now, pointing an accusing finger at him. In the background I heard Mir snort and mumble something along the lines of _so that's what she gets from it?_

Evan's serious expression faded in a blink of an eye and he quickly tried to backtrack. "Um… No I didn't?"

"Yes you did." I took a step forward, he took a step back.

"But I also said you were nice?" His lips tugged upwards, a grin beginning to form.

I let out a growl, or at least I _attempted _to do so. The smile forming in response to Evan's own kind of turned it into a mixture of a growl and chuckle. An interesting and an albeit funny sounding combination.

Long story short, Evan laughed, I laughed, and Mir laughed. It was too weird sounding to _not _laugh. Then of course I tried to hit Evan for laughing to which he promptly cried _what about Mir?! _And Mir let out a disbelieved snort at how his master was trying to drag him into trouble too.

* * *

**This is a short chapter, I know. It's one of my shortest and I'm sorry. **

**I was planning to continue on after that scene and move on to the theme dungeon but I decided in the end to save that for the next chapter. (**What I have planned next is just going to be a big ball of happy fun so I figured it didn't quite belong here so yeah, next chapter. )** Which will be done a lot sooner I can guarantee that.**

**A week. I promise. And it'll be a decent length too. **

**But yeah, it's kind of depressing towards the end huh. I tried to make it happy but... Meh.**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Kerning Square Shopping Center Time! Battles and Quests and lots of stuff.**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 11/15/14**

**Finished Writing: 12/2/14 (Argh, me and my late updates.)**


	20. Kerning Square

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Twenty (Really long chapter that is only partly edited sort of read AN below)

* * *

Blake had a nice voice. It wasn't especially jaw-dropping or anything near that level but it was pretty good.

I had figured that if me and Evan were going to help him out with his dream to become a singer we would at least need to know if he was a good singer or not. It would've sucked to have a concert set up for him only for it to turn out to be a failure due to him being bad at singing. That obviously wasn't the case though.

What surprised me however was the shock that Evan had shown upon hearing Blake's singing, followed by his generous amounts of praise that he loaded onto the young man. At seeing that I actually had to pause for a couple of seconds before finally letting out an exasperated sigh because, _really Evan? You were going to help this guy become a singer without knowing whether or not he could actually sing?_

But moving onto other matters, after me and Evan both acknowledged that Blake had a decent shot to achieve his dream and only needed a bit of a push into the industry said young man informed us of the whereabouts of a certain Ms. Lana. Apparently she was a CEO of some record company and would definitely be able to help Blake become a singer using her connections.

That was only if she wanted to of course, meaning that we had to try and convince her to help us. Blake emphasized that he had already tried doing so many, _many _times and had failed but he seemed confident that me and Evan would be able to convince her in his stead. Why? I had no idea.

"So… You think that's her over there?" Evan asked, absently rubbing his hands over Mir's scales. He seemed nervous.

I blinked and turned to the side to see where Evan was looking at and smiled. "Ah.. Yeah, I thinks so." Said woman had shoulder length black hair, glasses, long white coat, she definitely looked just like how Blake described her as. She also quite conveniently matched my fuzzy memory of an NPC who shared her name.

Evan was silent for a moment before nodding to himself. "Okay then. Let's go talk to her." He glanced back at me and I nodded, following after him as he led the way to her.

Ms. Lana looked up when we were just a few feet away from her. She raised an eyebrow at us but did nothing else. We stopped in front of her and I waited a beat before talking.

"You are Ms. Lana, the CEO of Big Hit Records right?" I asked her; discreetly glancing at the name tag pinned on her coat.

She stared at me contemplatively before answering, "Yes I am. What do you two kids want from me?"

I felt Evan stiffen a bit from next to me and I could already see the small frown no doubt forming on his face. I on the other hand just smiled.

"What can we do to have you help Mr. Blake accomplish his dream?" I tried injecting as much cheer into my voice without making it sound incredibly fake. Unsurprisingly Ms. Lana's expression morphed into something similar to a scowl.

Ms. Lana huffed. "That kid is roping other kids to try and convince me now is he?"

Evan looked offended on Blake's behalf. Which I found understandable, Blake had to be _at least _seventeen so calling him 'kid' was a bit overkill in my opinion… But adults were generally a bit overkill sometimes so I understood that too.

"He didn't rope me and Eli into anything! We volunteered to help him accomplish his dream." Evan said sincerely and I nodded, even though that was only partially true. I was here partly because Evan was my best friend and partly because I wanted to help Blake too. However my main reason was because of my mission.

And if I could complete my mission while being with my best friend and helping some guy accomplish his dream then might as well right?

Ms. Lana didn't seem very convinced however despite Evan's sincerity. "It doesn't matter what you say, I'm not going to help Blake. Sure he might have a good voice but I'm a busy woman. I have other more important things to take care of." At this she glanced to the side of her where an elevator stood not too far away.

I took a second to process her words before letting out a grin upon realizing something. From the corner of my eyes I saw Evan looking at me almost cautiously. "Eli…"

Smiling my best smile at Ms. Lana I asked her, "If nothing we say can convince you then what can we do?"

"What can you do?" Ms. Lana repeated. She glanced at the two of us and I could almost see the gears turning in her head. "I suppose… _If _you help me with a couple of things I might be more inclined to assist Blake with his dream."

I could see Evan beam. "Great! So what can we do to help?"

Ms. Lana crossed her arms. "First I need to see your Adventurer's pass, or something equivalent to one. What I need done requires you two to enter deeper into the mall and I want to be sure that you two can handle it."

Without missing a beat I procured my _Edelstein Monster Fighting Pass _courtesy of Brighton. He assured me that although Edelstein was a bit isolated from Victoria Island the pass would still serve its purpose to prove that I was a capable fighter.

Belle of course had added that even if the person asking for the pass didn't know much about Edelstein the pass itself looked- in her own words- _pretty damn official you know?_

Ms. Lana took my pass in her hands and looked it over, turning it around before nodding at me and then looking at Evan expectantly.

I felt the need to bang my head against the wall because-

_He was just standing there looking confused._

"Well?" Ms. Lana asked, looking less and less impressed at each passing second.

Evan looked at her sheepishly before glancing at Mir. Said dragon shrugged. "That thing that orange-haired lady gave you, master. That might count."

I couldn't help but grin at Ms. Lana's surprised expression. I could barely hear her muttering to herself, "That big flying lizard can _talk?!_"

Evan remained oblivious to Ms. Lana's shock because he was hit by his own epiphany. He grinned, "Oh yeah that's right Mir!" And without further ado he took out an official looking piece of parchment paper that seemed to be laminated with some type of material to keep it preserved and safe. He easily handed it over to Ms. Lana and I watched with glee as her eyebrows rose high.

"This is… _The Victoria Island Guards_? A kid like you got in?" She seemed slightly impressed now and handed back the glorified piece of paper to Evan.

He smiled slightly in response. "I just helped them out a little bit. Since I've been traveling a lot Ayan made me an honorary member."

"And you know the captain personally… How interesting." Ms. Lana mused.

Evan laughed nervously, his face was slightly flushed and I could see that the tips of his ears were pink. He was embarrassed.

_So cute. _I cooed internally, a smile creeping its way onto my face. And as if Evan heard my thoughts he turned to look at me with a frown.

"I am _not _cute." He said resolutely.

Nodding I looked at him unconvincingly. "Sure you aren't."

Evan looked like he was about to start a tirade but was interrupted by a cough. We both looked over to Ms. Lana who seemed to be faintly amused.

"Well since I'm sure you two will be able to handle it I'll tell you the tasks I need done." She paused. "_After _I give the both of you a history lesson."

"History lesson?" I parroted and she nodded.

"What do you two know about Kerning Square Shopping Center?" Ms. Lana prompts. However despite only knowing us for a couple of minutes it seemed like she already knew us to a certain extent because she completely dismissed Evan in exchange to look at me expectantly.

I bit the inside of my cheek to hide a smile at seeing Evan frown before crossing his arms stubbornly. He knew that I was the smart one of the two of us but I'm sure that didn't stop him from feeling a bit offended at how Ms. Lana just disregarded him as someone who didn't know anything on the topic. Even though it was completely true.

Humming a bit I recalled the information in the mission file Brighton had given me weeks ago. It contained various facts and inferences on Kerning Square Shopping Center's history and present condition. All of which was to help me accomplish my simple mission of,

_Find out what's wrong with the mall and fix it if possible._

Weeks ago when Brighton had first told me my mission objective he recognized the gleam in my eyes and answered my unasked question, _the definition of fixing I suppose varies from person to person_.

Because I had a tendency to be creative in a lot of my strategy lessons during training. Brighton didn't really mind, although Claudine was a _completely _different story.

_As long as it gets the job done_. He said. _And it's morally alright of course_. He added, just to be funny I bet.

"Kerning Square Shopping Center is the only place known in the Maple World to rely as much on technology as it does. It's owned by a private company that is associated with Big Hit Records due to being the only practical place to hold concerts. The shopping center was an avid tourist attraction and brought people from all over the Maple World to come and check out it's shops and various live performances but a couple of months ago various stores experienced mutations with their products and other objects within the surrounding area. The mutations led to said products and objects turning into monsters and causing the mall to shut down almost all businesses inside. However, there are still some workers in the mall."

I glanced at Ms. Lana along with a couple of other people loitering in the mall lobby who were also observing our conversation. "My guess for that is that they're put there to warn anyone from going further inside. To minimize any casualties and stuff like that." I finished.

To the side of me I saw Evan and Mir nodding. "That makes sense I guess."

"It does, doesn't it?" Ms. Lana smiled; her eyes however flickered with an unknown emotion before settling with being amused. I tilted my head at her slightly. Now that I thought about it, I felt like something was missing…

"Ms. Lana?" I prompted.

She shook her head. "Never mind that. I might tell you about it later though if you ask. That is, if you are able to handle the assignments I'm going to give you now."

"Definitely! Me and Mir-" Evan grinned at me. "Along with Eli will be able to finish whatever you assign us, no sweat."

I frowned slightly at him. "That's just asking to be jinxed, Evan."

He blinked and his grin mellowed out into a sheepish smile. "Uh, whoops?" He recovered quickly however. "But we'll be able to handle it. Me and Mir are pretty strong, and I'm sure you're pretty good too."

"Absolutely." I agreed feeling my fingers twitch, my Auras were getting anxious at the thought of battle. I projected a calming thought to them, _just a little while longer guys._

A huff.

_And girl, of course. You know what I mean Star._

Blinking away from the mental connection I focused in on Ms. Lana.

"One of the first mutations happened in a frequented cafe, _Colorful Bubble._ It was well known for its bubble tea which was where the mutation erupted from. Skipping the rather… _Chaotic _time-frame where the drinks evolved into monsters, the drinks now roam the entirety of the second floor of the mall."

Evan gaped. "The- The _entire _second floor?" Mentally I filed away this piece of information into memory. So far things were matching up with the game. Whether it was a good or a bad thing however was still up for debate.

"Yes, the entire second floor. Save for this level- the first floor and lobby- the mall is taken over by the monsters. Your first assignment is to collect me twenty of drops of each type of bubble tea monster located on the second floor." While saying this she walked over to a map of the mall that was plastered onto a wall.

"Despite the cafe only originating here-" She pointed towards the upper middle of the second floor. "The monsters have spread themselves. At this part of the mall all three types are known to spawn."

Next she pointed to the left of the second floor. "Here is where most of the Cherry Bubble Tea drinks originate." The lower middle of the map. "Mango Bubble Tea." The right. "Melon Bubble Tea."

"I don't need to tell you how to differentiate between the three types right?" The, _you know what colors those fruits are right? _Wasn't said but I heard it all the same. I nodded in response and Ms. Lana looked at me approvingly.

Evan on the other hand…

Both me and Ms. Lana let out a slightly exasperated sigh at seeing his slightly confused yet sheepish expression.

Evan pouted. "Hey I've been on a pig farm for most of my life, cut me some slack okay?"

"Pig farm?" Ms. Lana repeated, an eyebrow raised. I shrugged.

"A story for another time maybe." I started walking towards the elevator before stopping. "Hm… I wonder if Mir is going to fit in there?" I contemplated aloud.

Mir snorted. "Not in this form I won't."

"Form?" I looked over to Evan to clarify and he grinned.

"I can change Mir's current form to any of his lesser ones." He explained, causing my eyes to widen. "However, it takes quite a bit of mana and there's a casting time between the change- it gets longer depending on how far apart the forms are- so I think we should just take the escalator." He finished by pointing over to the other side of the lobby where lo-and-behold, a working escalator was standing.

I hummed, changing direction and bumped my shoulder with Evan when he caught up to me. "Looks like there's still a lot I have to learn about you too."

"Naturally." He smiled, and bumped his shoulder against mine. "And I can say the same to you." He glanced meaningfully at the birds' nest my hair was.

I slowed my pace, fingers reaching up to carefully thread through my hair and wincing when it was met with various tangles. "My hair doesn't look _too _bad right?"

"Not _too _bad." He agreed, amusement flaring in his light blue eyes.

I scowled and stopped walking. "Attack him." I ordered my Auras and they took to the air, landing in Evan's own hair and started to chase each other in it.

"Ow, _Eli-_" He tried to swat at them and hissed slightly when Light pecked his pinky finger. "Traitor." He scrunched his face up at me and stuck his tongue out.

I giggled and burst into full on laughter when Mir loomed over my auras- a threatening heat starting to emanate from his mouth.

Evan's eyes widened. "Ack! No, Mir no fire, not here!"

At the word 'fire' my auras took off into the air and landed safely into my awaiting upturned palms. Mir looked over at them with a smug expression while Evan tried to comb his hair with his fingers. It was exactly what I did as soon as the three had sought refuge in his hair instead of my own.

"You might've gone a bit too far." I told the three colorful birds, lifting up my palms so that they were on eye-level with me. Evan seemed to be having difficulty in his endeavor and although I felt a bit guilty for my actions it was still rather amusing to watch.

Star shuffled her short and stubby legs, fluttering her wings almost unconsciously. "We got a bit carried away." She relented.

There was a sound of humming, Tempest. "His hair was very soft."

"I don't think guys are supposed to have soft hair. You sure he's not a girl?" Light joked slightly.

Evan looked affronted. "Hey!" Then his expression turned into something akin to surprise. "Those birds can talk?"

"What do you think?" Light asked him and I blew on him slightly, ruffling his feathers. "Hey, _Eliza_, Don't blow on me." He whined.

"Be nice to Evan." I stated simply before meeting Evan's eyes. "Come on, walk with me Evan, slowly. I'll explain what I can do now."

He followed shortly and I started explaining my fighting style. It consisted of close range magic taking on the form of swords with the use of chains to bring monsters into my attack range. I realized that it was maybe unfortunately simple. There wasn't much of a variety in my attacks but I reasoned that my auras made up for that.

Evan seemed amazed as I talked about my auras, even more so when I told him that this wasn't their actual forms and that they were actually human in appearance. He found that it was pretty convenient to have auras specialized in the three things needed in battle, strength, defense, and speed.

I didn't think I could've impressed him anymore at that point (he was staring at me wide-eyed and had a big grin on his face and I could practically read his thoughts of, _my best friend is awesome) _but I was proved wrong when I finally linked him up to Star and the other auras.

First the three colored circles of flame appeared around me, first the flames were yellow, then light blue, and finally dark purple before repeating. I let Evan and Mir observe the flames (their awe in it was evident, Light and the others were basically preening at this point) for a while before offering a hand to Evan and explaining that I was going to connect them to the _Aura System _I was maintaining at the moment.

_Aura System _to put it simply was the name I got from Brighton to describe how my auras worked when supporting me. Although the flames only stayed as one color, just changing every so often, all three effects were evident on my body. However I didn't need to have all three at once, I could do only blue and yellow, or only yellow and purple. That's where the 'system' part of the name came in.

Brighton also told me that at the moment I was only using maybe around twenty-five percent of my aura's power when using all three at the same time. Fifty percent when using two, and seventy-five percent when using one. He told me that he was able to adjust how much power to put in each separate aura but since I was still in training I had a set amount for each. I had frowned at that, not knowing what to think of it. That meant I wasn't at my full potential right? Or well, I was _a lot _farther from my full potential than I thought I was.

Something occurred to me then. A piece from my game memory that I felt would also have to apply in this world too.

Advanced Aura. Each aura had an advanced form back in the game. It made sense for it to exist because so far things were still pretty much the same, no big differences just yet. And so one day during training I questioned Brighton on whether or not there was an advanced form of the auras. He laughed and said, _we'll talk about that once you can use a hundred percent of your auras power when using all three at the same time. So for now just keep using your auras and you'll get better at using their power. Push past your limits, you haven't hit your max yet._

Then he smiled at me, proudly, confidently. _You're nowhere near that yet._

At that time I had just gaped at him before shaking my head in near disbelief. _I'll try_. I told him at that time. Because I had to, I _needed _to. Especially since-

I broke from my mental musings to look at Evan. His eyes were shut tight, waiting for the connection. I had told him that it might shock him a bit at first and I could only roll my eyes almost fondly at him. I never said it would hurt after all but… meh.

"Okay, I'm going to start in-"

"Don't count! That's going to make it worse- Gah!" My grip tightened on his hand as I flowed mana into him, surrounding him before settling near his feet where the colorful flames sprouted again. The colors were changing in time to match with my own flames.

I gave his hand a final squeeze before letting go and he took that chance to open his eyes. He blinked them open carefully and quickly shut them, raising his hands to cover them.

"Everything is so _sharp _and _loud_. What- What exactly are they doing again?" He exclaimed, alternating between rubbing his eyes and his ears.

I rolled my eyes but Star beat me to explaining. "My aura, dark aura increases the senses along with strengthening your physical and mental attack. Light's aura, the yellow aura increases speed. The blue aura which is Tempests' aura increases defense."

"So now since I'm connected to your _Aura whatcha ma' call it_-"

"It's called _Aura System _Evan." I told him exasperatedly.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, that. So since I'm connected to it now my strength and stuff is increased, right?"

I nodded in confirmation and he grinned. "Wow, I wonder…"

Already seeing where this was going I reached out to grasp his arm saying, "Evan you should probably take it slowly-"

_CRASH._

I watched blankly as Evan overestimated his speed and ran into a nearby support column. I looked at Mir helplessly and he shrugged. As if his master running into things was a normal occurrence.

Turning back to look at Evan I frowned at seeing he was already standing back up looking only the slightest bit disgruntled. There was hardly a bump on his forehead where his head met hard concrete.

I _really_ hoped that it wasn't a normal occurrence.

* * *

There was fire _everywhere. _Now I understood why Evan didn't want Mir doing any fire spells back in the lobby- besides the obvious 'not wanting to get burned/damage private property' of course.

Mir was a certified pyromaniac.

Which was maybe perfectly understandable, he was a dragon after all.

"Ah, where are we right now?" Evan breathed from beside me. He murmured _Fire Circle _under his breath to go with an almost lazy slash with his wand. The spell crackled to life, not near Evan however but by Mir. The onyx dragon sucked in a breath and exhaled sharply, a white and orange magic circle appearing in front of him. I watched as Mir's breath turned into licks of flames- spreading out towards various Mango Bubble Tea monsters and setting them ablaze.

They burned for a second before fading away, signifying their death. In their wake however was only sticky yellow liquid. No drops, damn.

Thinking back on Evan's question I thought for a second before schooling my features into a blank expression. "We're in Kerning Square Shopping Center Evan. You should know that."

Far in front of the two of us I heard Mir and my auras laughing. Star and the others were perched on top of Mir. They were fascinated by Mir's fire apparently and had taken to resting on his head.

Evan turned towards me slightly and waved his wand at me threateningly.

"You know what I meant!"

I grinned and raised my staff, my auras flashing next to me in the next second with a distinct _pop_. Extending my left hand I felt mana leave me and a faint purple haze appeared. I pulled- the purple haze solidifying into a chain that brought three, no _four _of the yellow drinks towards me.

Without hesitating I jumped forwards and mana gathered around my staff to form a white and purple sword that moved through the four needed slashes to complete a _Quad Blow_.

I landed behind them and tsked upon noticing them standing - deep gashes along the bottle where yellow liquid was pouring out - but still standing nonetheless.

A wave of heat caused me to jump back and I felt Evan's jacket flare out next to me. "Need a little help?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course,"

Evan beamed.

"Not." I finished, hitting him lightly on the head with my staff. "I was just about to go in for round two when you and Mir came in."

He twirled his wand absently with his fingers and hummed noncommittally as he walked over to the puddle of yellow liquid and gathered our drops from the four monsters.

The surrounding monsters kept their distance from us- although they didn't seem too inclined towards their fellow species' death. They were a rather non-hostile bunch. Completely different from the Cherry Bubble Tea's Evan, Mir and I were fighting just an hour ago. Those ones however weren't as bad as the Melon Bubble Tea's. I could safely say that they were bipolar in personality, flip-flopping between being happy and sad.

They were disturbing in my opinion. I found it a bit hard to fight them since I didn't like seeing them up close so I had Evan and Mir take them. In exchange for that I took care of most of the Cherry Bubble Tea's. Since the red drinks were so hostile they would almost always come over to attack us anyways and that was a problem for the two of them. Fire magic with allies in close contact was a big no-no after all.

I waited patiently for Evan to come back with the drops and I looked them over carefully when he finally brought them. I nodded and slipped off my backpack and Evan dropped them in without further ado.

"One more of this one." I told him, the answer to his question he asked awhile back. He had meant where we were on collecting the drops after all. We had twenty of the Cherry and Melon Bubbles (what I had taken to calling the drops since they sure looked like it) and nineteen of the Mango Bubbles.

Evan nodded and casted another _Fire Circle_ to which Mir performed enthusiastically. A couple more monsters faded away leaving wisps of smoke behind along two more drops. He picked up one of them and tossed it over to me.

I grimaced and shoved my bag, making sure the opening was wide and it landed safely inside it. Evan rolled his eyes at me.

"Oh come on Eli, you're wearing gloves for crying out loud. It's not even that bad." He shoved me his own gloves which were only had the barest amount of red, green, and yellow liquid on them. It would probably come off with a simple wash.

Shaking my head I closed my bad and shifted it back onto my shoulders. "These gloves were a gift; I don't want them getting dirty."

"That defeats the purpose of having gloves I think." He remarked, stepping into place next to me with Mir flapping on the other side of him.

I shrugged. "They're a… fashion statement?" I tried, making my way towards the escalator so that we could get back down to the lobby. Evan followed obligingly

"Sure they are." He nodded sarcastically and I stuck out my leg in an effort to try and trip him. He dodged it of course, smiling cheekily all the while.

I crinkled my nose. "Let's just get this stuff to Ms. Lana. It's been what, two hours now?" I asked him as I stepped onto the descending escalator.

Evan followed on the next step and shrugged. "You're the one with a watch."

"It's in my bag though." I frowned. When we first started attacking the drink monsters I noticed that they tended to splash around liquid. My watch wasn't exactly waterproof so I had stored it away into my bag for safe keeping.

Looking down onto my now partly soaked clothes I felt my frown deepen. _The sucky part about being a close-ranged fighter, _I thought to myself sullenly.

"Don't worry I'm sure it'll come off easily in the wash." Evan reassured me easily and tried to hit him.

"Easy for you to say mister." I muttered, taking in his perfectly clean clothes. Although the bottom edge of his pants were slightly wet. His shoes like mine though seemed to be a lost cause.

He glanced over to where I was looking I waved his arm dismissively. "We can get new shoes later?"

I grunted in agreement, thanking the goddess that I hadn't been wearing the nice combat boots Charlotte had gotten me and stepped off the escalator. I glanced around the lobby for Ms. Lana and started towards said woman who was currently sitting on a bench outside of a general store.

Standing in front of her I took off my bag and stuck my hand in front of it before stopping, my eyes blinking in realization. "We're done Ms. Lana. Where do we put the stuff…?" I trailed off slightly at the end.

Ms. Lana looked at the two of us with an expression akin to being impressed. "That was fast." She glanced at her watch. "Only took you two a little over an hour."

Evan beamed at the praise and I let out a small smile. Mir huffed and straightened a bit from where he was hovering to the side of Evan and my auras tweeted happily on top of his head.

"You can give them over to Robby Fray over there-" She pointed to a man with brown hair holding a spatula that was standing in front of a restaurant of sorts. "He'll know what to do with them. Come back after that. I've still got assignments for you two to finish."

I nodded and our little group walked over to Robby Fray. He took the various colored bubbles enthusiastically and told us to tell Ms. Lana that he'd have her order done as soon as possible. He also thanked us gratefully for our hard work.

We went back to Ms. Lana and waited patiently for her to finish whatever she was doing on her phone. At least, I thought what she was holding was a phone. It looked like one of those smartphone ones- something I could only vaguely remember from memories years ago.

Finally she looked up to us and put her phone away into a pocket on her coat. She crossed her legs and folded her arms above her chest and me and Evan straightened our postures automatically.

"Okay, so now what I need you two to do now is…"

* * *

It was now late in the afternoon. Me and Evan were beyond tired, running around the mall completing Ms. Lana assignments which varied between more monster hunting and picking up the drops to being the test subjects for clothes and perfume.

Currently we (as in me, Evan, Mir, and my auras) were all lying haphazardly in front of Ms. Lana where she still sat on the same bench in front of the general store. We had just finished fighting a bunch of amplifiers (Evan had decided to bust out one of Mir's other skills - _Lightning Bolt_ \- at this time since it was a lot more effective against these particular monsters than _Fire Circle_) to secure this whiny brat's music player. Apparently he had accidentally dropped it while observing said monsters. The brat's name was actually Maestro Rho and he was a popular singer from Big Hit Records. When both me and Evan approached him on the account of Ms. Lana he had requested (_demanded_) that we find him his music player in return for his help.

Ms. Lana didn't seem offended at all when I had informed her of this and had simply said _give and take_. Then she had proceeded to send us off to accomplish the task without further ado and me and Evan had to spend the next half hour going through dozens of amplifiers, looking for the dropped music player.

"You dropped off the music player correct?" She confirmed once again.

Evan exhaled slightly and held a thumbs up. "Yes, and that guy Messy-or-whatever said to email him the details of whatever it was you were planning." His eyebrows scrunched up for a second. "What is email anyway?"

"Electronic mail." Ms. Lana said at the same time as I huffed, "His name is _Maestro,_ Evan."

The brunette merely puffed out his cheeks slightly. "Yeah, yeah. What kind of name is that anyways?"

"It's the name of a professional singer." I told him with a grin. "And you've gotta admit that it _is _kind of a cool name."

Evan shrugged from his position on the floor. "I guess."

Ms. Lana's cough brought our attention back to her and I could only smile sheepishly at the faint amusement reflecting in her eyes. "Well moving on from that you two," She glanced at her watch and frowned slightly. "It's getting late so you should go eat dinner and get to bed already."

"What about the rest of the assignments?" Evan asked while sitting up. I followed after shortly.

"It's not that late is it?" I questioned but I wasn't too sure of that. There weren't any windows in the mall so I couldn't tell what color the sky was. I didn't feel all that tired though, physically and maybe a bit mentally exhausted yes but not sleepy.

The CEO of Big Hit Records tapped her foot against the hard tile of the floor and answered simply, "It's around seven already and you two have surprisingly already finished all the preparations I could think of. Now I just have to make a few final adjustments and things should be set."

"Preparations?" Evan frowned, confusion easily seen in his expression.

I raised an eyebrow. "Set for what?"

Ms. Lana let a small smirk show. "The preparations for Blake's debut concert-" Cue Evan and Mir's dramatic gasp. "There are only a few things to take care of and I should be able to handle them just fine by myself. Soon enough everything will be set and he'll be able to finally… Ah, what did you call it? Accomplish his dream." She finished, nodding to herself slightly.

The revelation itself wasn't all that surprising to me. It wasn't really expected but at the same time it was. I thought back to all the assignments she gave us.

The first mission where we collected the bubbles and had given them to Robby Fray afterwards; it was probably going to be used as drinks for the concert possibly? (I tried to ignore the queasiness starting to form in my stomach at the thought of people drinking the monster droppings but stuff like that seemed to be the norm here.)

Other missions, like the one where we had to try on perfume were probably to see which would fit Blake best. The dolls from the monster claw machines we had to get (which I kept a few of for myself, they were so cute I couldn't help it) were most likely going to be used as give away prizes or something maybe. The clothing and wings we collected on the other hand… well Blake would look good as a blonde, probably. Those hats we got were pretty nice too. I wasn't sure what that supposed fashion expert Lana was going to do with the bunny suits but maybe I was better off just not knowing.

All the missions could all relate in some way to helping Blake with his concert. It all added up.

I couldn't help but smile, letting out a relieved breath. I had been worried at first, I wanted to help Blake out but if it turned out to be taking too much time…

My mission came first, and I was just glad that now I would be able to focus on it more thoroughly.

"However…"

At hearing Ms. Lana's voice again my head snapped up. _However?_

She looked at us contemplatively before crossing her arms. "If you don't mind there is… one more thing I would like you to do."

"What is it?" Evan asked, already standing up and walking over to where Mir and my auras lay. He shook Mir slightly before glancing back at Ms. Lana, waiting for her answer.

"Ah… Well, it's nothing too hard really. But I'd rather not tell you the details right now. I need to get going after all." She glanced at her watch before continuing. "Meet me here at nine in the morning tomorrow got it?"

I nodded in agreement, my mind already whirling. What was it that she wanted us to do? She said it wasn't too hard but since she wasn't having us wait till tomorrow to do it then it couldn't be pretty easy either.

Evan nodded too and absently stroked the scales on Mir's back. "We'll be meeting here?"

"Yes. I suggest you also restock. I'm sure that you've used up quite a bit while carrying out my assignments earlier." Ms. Lana noted matter-of-factly and from the corner of my eye I saw Evan grimace and to be honest I couldn't hold back a small wince either.

I think I had gone through about half my stock of mana pots. Due to my skill _Blood Drain _I had barely needed to use any HP potions but considering the fact that I hadn't gotten much in the first place…

"We definitely need to restock." I sighed and my auras flew from Mir's head to fly away me comfortingly.

Evan yawned. "Definitely." He agreed, "But let's do that tomorrow morning? I kind of just want to go eat something and then pass out." He swayed a little on his feet. "Or maybe just pass out?" He chuckled slightly, leaning onto Mir for support.

"Don't you dare Evan. I'm not going to carry you all the way too…" I paused, a thought occurring to me. "Where are you going to rest at Evan?"

He blinked and opened his mouth before closing it again. "Uhmm…" He glanced at Ms. Lana's unamused expression before quickly turning his head to look at me again. "Where are you staying?"

"The Inn that I stayed at years ago when I came here on my trip." I answered easily. I waved goodbye to Ms. Lana and nodded in reassurance to her unanswered question, _will you two be alright?_

Evan followed into step with me after saying his own goodbyes and seemed to have an epiphany. "Ah, oh yeah. You came here to Kerning City before when you were on your road trip right?"

I nodded. "Yup, that's the trip."

He hummed, letting the conversation drop between us and we walked towards the subway trains in silence. Blake wasn't there sadly, some other guy was, it seemed like he had already left to go home.

It was disappointing really. I would've liked to see his face after telling him the news but, oh well.

We showed the guy our return tickets and he directed us to one of the stationary trains. Then I was gifted with the opportunity to see Mir's baby form since the subway doors weren't large enough for him to fit through in his current form

("_You're so cute like this Mir!"_

"_Are you saying that I'm not cute in my other form?"_

"_No, no of course not! It's just… In your other form you're more… handsome than cute."_

"_Nice save."_

"_Shush mister."_)

The ride after that was rather short and soon enough our little group was stepping off the train and into the Kerning City subway station. We exited the area shortly to arrive on the side brown brick sidewalk that the city was known for and from the corner of my eye I watched Evan deeply inhale the night air of Kerning City-

Only to start coughing three seconds after.

("_Ugh, I knew pollution here was pretty bad."_

"_Then why did you just do that?"_

"_Quiet, I forgot okay."_)

After stopping by a fast food restaurant (WcDonalds seemed vaguely familiar to me but I just couldn't quite place my finger on it) we headed towards a certain Inn. After talking with the receptionist and paying for our rooms (they were across from each other) we headed up to them and said our goodbyes before retreating into said rooms.

My first instinct was to just jump on the bed and go to sleep. However, I viciously squashed down said instinct and instead went to take a shower. After doing so and changing into simple pajamas I collected my dirty clothes and headed down to the laundry room. I placed my clothes into a washer and set a small alarm on my watch to remind me when they finished.

I wandered around the Inn a bit, yawning repeatedly and being asked multiple times if I was okay (to which I replied that I was _fine _but thank you for the concern) by some of the other renters and some of the workers too. After maybe around the ninth time being asked I decided to retreat into the kitchen to get a drink of warm milk.

Which may or may not have been the best idea really.

I swear I had just meant to close my eyes for a couple of seconds but when I opened them next, three hours had passed and it was nearing midnight. Upon seeing that I was instantly awake and jumped up from my seat in front of the kitchen table. Immediately I felt fabric fall off my shoulders and I looked down to see a blanket pooled by my feet. I looked at it in confusion.

"What the…?" I murmured to myself, but then my eyes caught sight of a folded piece of paper next to my now empty glass of milk.

The handwriting was unmistakable and my breath caught before I could even read the message.

_Shame you're not wearing my boots. :(_

_But don't you get too cold now._

_People don't really pay attention to it now but winter's still coming you know?_

Exhaling slightly I picked up my empty glass of milk and placed it into the dish washer. Moving carefully I headed back towards my room, the note folded back up securely in my hand. I glanced around naturally- trying to see if anyone else was up and about.

No one was.

I made it back to my room without further ado and quickly headed over to where my auras were sleeping on a makeshift bed I had made for them. They were slumbering quietly but slowly roused awake at my approach.

"Eli…?" Tempest mumbled sleepily.

I shook my head slightly. "Nothing, I just wanted to check up on you guys."

"Ah…" He murmured before going back to sleep and I smiled at him before walking over to the single bed in the room, fully intending to get a good night sleep.

It wasn't until I was lying in bed half-asleep that I realized something.

"_I forgot to get my laundry!_"

* * *

"You ready yet?" I asked almost impatiently.

Evan glanced back at me and frowned before facing forward again, his eyes set on various types of potions.

It was morning now and me and Evan were in the Kerning City Pharmacy stocking up on potions. Or well, Evan was stocking up potions. I had finished a couple of minutes ago and was waiting patiently for him. Mostly patiently.

"It's eight-thirty…" I intoned easily and held back a giggle as I saw Evan twitch a little bit. I heard him growl a faint bit, something that very clearly amused the man sitting behind the cashier. Soon after Evan paid for his purchases and walked over to where I was sitting on a bench with Mir (in his baby form) clutched to his chest with one arm and his packages held in the other.

He none-too-gently shoved Mir at me and I squeaked at the sudden weight that fell into my lap. I looked up to glare at Evan and I found my eye twitch at seeing him whistle innocently as he stowed away his potions in the necessary compartments.

"Ha ha. Not funny." I told him to which he replied matter-of-factly with, "I wasn't laughing."

Picking up Mir and holding him up in front of me I narrowed my eyes inquisitively at the onyx dragon. "Eli?" He asked.

"Why do you weigh so much? You're so little!" I bemoaned, my arms already starting to strain and I let him down back onto my lap.

Evan quickly took him off of me and supported him with both arms. "Mir himself doesn't weigh that much but the mana surrounding him does." He explained and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mana surrounding him?" I questioned, standing up and walking towards the door. Mir followed and my auras tweeted from their spot on the bird nest that was my head.

"It's nearly invisible, that's why you can't really see it Eliza. Try focusing on Mir." Light pitched in helpfully.

I opened the door and held it open for Evan and he nodded in gratitude. "Try it."

Pursuing my lips I focused my eyes on Mir, specifically looking for any traces of mana and my eyes widened at seeing the faint bluish-purple haze of mana compacted so deeply around the dragon, sticking to him like a second skin.

"But why?" I asked, curious. Was this an after-effect of Mir changing forms?

Evan took the lead, making his way to the subway station and I followed, nudging him slightly to prompt him to explaining.

"Well…" He started. "When Mir changes his form I use a type of… Space-Time Magic?" He glanced downwards at Mir and I watched in surprise as he nodded. Evan smiled and continued easily. "It takes Mir's memories of his former form and transforms his body to match that of it. However, that only takes care of Mir's body. Mir naturally has a lot of mana stored in his body and although some of it is transferred when he transforms to a younger body there's still _a lot _left over since his younger body can't take in all of it. And that mana can't exactly be released because it doesn't… Mix well with natural mana."

"Natural mana?" I frowned, not knowing the term at all. From the way Evan was talking it sounded like there were _different types _of mana.

Evan's eyes widened and our paced slowed slightly. "Oh, well... What do you know about mana Eli?"

"Mana is basically your spiritual and mental energy mixed together. For that reason when Magicians or any other people cast or use too much spells/skills - which uses up mana - they become mentally exhausted and have a hard time concentrating." I stated, folded my arms over my chest. "What else is there?"

Evan thought about it for a couple of seconds before speaking again. "Well that _is _correct. That is what _normal _mana is. It's the mana used and created by humans. _Natural _mana is the very faint amount of mana in the air that just exists basically. It's created and used by things like plants and sometimes monsters. Although most monsters use and create their own mana which is _kind of _like normal mana but isn't so I just call it _monster _mana."

"I see…" I said slowly, starting to understand what he was saying. Kind of.

"You do? Well, when people like us use our normal mana for our spells you notice how like the mana we exert just kind of fades away?" He made a swishing gesture with one hand and I nodded. "Well what happens there is that our normal mana becomes natural mana. Have you ever wondered why we couldn't take back the mana we use for our spells Eli?"

I frowned. "No… Not really. I just thought we couldn't you know, since we used it so…"

"But you can see the mana hovering in the air when you cast the spell right? Doing whatever it is it's supposed to do like… Like that chain! The one you use when you fight! After it brings the monster close to you it just kind of fades away right? The mana?" Evan asked enthusiastically, getting really into the conversation.

"Yeah the mana just fades and I can't see it anymore." I nodded.

Evan grinned. "Well that mana that is in the air from the spell doesn't just _disappear_. But the thing is once it's released from you and is no longer bonded to your body it can't go back because it's ah… _Contaminated _with the trace amount of natural mana floating around. And human bodies can't take in natural mana or some reason."

I frowned. "And why not? How do you know all of this anyways?"

"Ah, Mir told me! And well, I don't know why not. It just doesn't mix." He finished with a shrug.

Looking downwards I gave Mir a pointed look. "How do you know this?"

Mir looked at me sheepishly and also gave a shrug. "I just do. Kind of like how I know what kind of spells to do, how to do them, and what Evan needs to do for them too."

"Huh…" I grunted and shoved Mir back into Evan's arms. Then I rubbed them slightly before looking back at the two again. "What does that have to do with the mana compacted around Mir though? Since the mana is expelled from him due to his smaller body not being able to hold as much as his bigger one can then shouldn't it be released into the air and become natural mana? What did you mean exactly by, _it doesn't mix well?_"

Evan scratched the back of his head slightly, adjusting Mir so he could be held securely with one arm. "Mir's mana isn't normal mana. Nor is it monster mana or natural mana. It's just… It's Mir mana." He finished with a small grin and another slight shrug. "And so since it doesn't mix well with natural mana it just likes to avoid it all together so it clings to Mir. It all works out for the best anyways because when Mir turns back to his bigger form he isn't mana deprived after all because the mana clinging to him goes back inside since he can fit more."

I stared at the two of them, still mildly confused but I could understand at least the gist of what they were saying. "That's good I guess… Let's just get on the subway train and head to Kerning Square, it's almost nine." I changed the subject, my mind already starting to hurt from all the information Evan and Mir were giving me. It was… Interesting but complicated.

"Got it." He agreed and we entered the subway station together, making our way over to pay for our tickets and onto the subway train we were directed to. After we were seated and the train started moving he spoke again. "I wonder what Ms. Lana wants us to do now?"

I leaned back on the seat, my backpack held securely in front of me on my lap. "Who knows?"

"She does obviously." Evan pointed out cheekily. I glared at him slightly and he just grinned in response, Mir following with his own grin soon after.

"You two…" I sighed and stood up as the train stopped, signaling our arrival. The two of us walked side by side through the subway station and we exchanged mildly worried glanced at each other after seeing that Blake wasn't there.

"He's probably fine." I told Evan, although it might have sounded like I was convincing myself of that.

Evan nodded slightly, expression still tinged with worry. "Yeah, I'm sure he's just at home."

We both walked through the lobby doors and instantly spotted Ms. Lana at the same bench in front of the general store and made our way towards her.

"Hey Ms. Lana have you seen-" Before Evan could even finish his question Ms. Lana interrupted him.

"Blake is resting. When I told him the news he practically fainted so I dismissed him from work and sent him home." She said without looking up from her phone, pale fingers pressing at the touch screen repeatedly.

With that being said me and Evan let out a sigh of relief before straightening again when Ms. Lana looked up, her phone put away into a pocket in her coat.

"I'll get straight to the point you two. You've proven yourselves to be pretty good fighters so if possible I want you to investigate something for me." The CEO said seriously. "This doesn't have anything to do with Blake and his concert but is related to the mall's current problem."

I stiffened. "You mean the monsters?"

She nodded. "Besides the fact that there's monsters here is there anything else you noticed?"

Frowning I shook my head slightly but Evan's eyes widened in realization. "The monsters respawn too quickly!"

I looked at him incredulously. "What?" They did? _Although…_ I grimaced slightly. _It's not like I would know really, I don't have near as much monster fighting experience as Evan probably has._

Ms. Lana nodded at Evan in agreement. "They do, and I've had it confirmed with a couple of other Adventurers too. The monsters have a very fast respawn rate. I believe that it's linked to the cause of the mutation into monsters problem too."

"Wait, you know what's caused the monsters to mutate?" My eyes widened immediately, the words out of my mouth before I could even register them.

Ms. Lana regarded me coolly. "I don't _know _precisely, I just have a theory. And it's that a certain monster, a local or a _mini boss _if you will has made this mall its territory and has contaminated it with its energy. That energy is what's caused the mutations to turn objects into monsters and is what makes said monsters respawn faster."

My eyes widened at hearing the words _mini boss_. Not only because of the traces of game memory making itself present in my mind, (_Spirit of Rock that's the boss of the Theme Dungeon how could you forget really?) _but because I had learned about mini bosses during Knowledge classes back at the Resistance Headquarters. They were monsters that were even more powerful than others with more moves, more stamina, and higher defense. However they weren't as strong as _Boss Monsters_ like _Zakum _and _Horntail _just to name a few of them. Therefor they were called _mini bosses_.

It wasn't the fact that they were really strong that surprised me but it was the fact that _any and all _boss monsters were put to sleep after the Black Mage was sealed. A supposed side effect of the Heroes seal according to a book I read in the Edelstein library. And if Ms. Lana was claiming that the monster was a _mini boss_ then…

"The Black Mage? You think he's starting to awaken and that the seal is losing power?" I dropped my voice to a low whisper and Ms. Lana shrugged.

"I don't really understand that kind of stuff, I'm a CEO not an Adventurer. But it's been a long time, and I've been hearing some… things. Things relating to a certain Hero or should I say Heroine that deals with ice." Her eyes trailed to Evan, then Mir, and her expression saddened. "There was one who fought with a dragon too right?"

"Yes." Evan stated softly, speaking for the first time in the conversation. His eyes were on his feet and Mir copied his actions. "But that's not me." He added.

"No it's not." Ms. Lana agreed with her head down slightly. When she looked up again her expression was normal and she coughed slightly. "But back to the matter on the mini boss. I want you two to defeat it."

Evan stepped back slightly. "Wha- You want us to defeat it? But it's supposed to be super strong right? That's why it's called a _mini boss _right?"

I blinked at Evan's quick switch of character and smiled slightly. "What, getting scared?"

He snapped his head back to look at me. "Of course not! I'm just-" He paused and looked at me calmly. "Just worried about you of course, I don't want you getting hurt after all." He said it seriously but I saw the faint upward twitch of his lips.

"I can take care of myself just fine." I said, hands on my hips then I turned back to look at Ms. Lana. "We'll take care of it, I assure you. Although it might take a while." I added the last part as an afterthought.

Ms. Lana nodded. "Take your time, I don't want you two rushing. Be careful, and don't worry I'll be able to pay you for your services."

At this Evan stepped forward slightly. "There's no need for that really-"

"Stop." Ms. Lana held up a palm faced outwards. "I'm a CEO of a big company therefor I'm rich so quiet. I have a lot of money anyways so it doesn't really affect me all that much if I give some to you two." She stated almost haughtily but I could see the sincere gratitude in her eyes. It seemed like she thought we wouldn't accept the assignment.

Although it's not like it was a surprise that she thought that. I'm sure any normal Adventurer would've turned it down but then again… I looked over to Evan and met his eyes and grinned.

_It's not like I ever said that me and Evan were quite the normal Adventurers after all._

I paused, taking in what I had just thought and couldn't help but chuckle. _We weren't actually Adventurers anyway either._

* * *

Smoke lingered in the air and I was immensely thankful for Star and her dark aura- the added sight boost was much appreciated.

"_Lightning Bolt!_"

I bit my lip and quickly teleported backwards just in time to see yellow green lightning strike the black and blue lined monster. Quickly I waved my hands around me to clear the smoke but soon found large wings clearing up to area soon enough.

Evan and Mir were maybe a dozen feet to the side of me; Light was with them and provided us with an easy way to communicate with each other if needed. Sadly Evan never really thought to warn me before attacking. At least he made sure to say his attack name loudly so I'd know to move.

"That was cutting it a bit too close." Star whined from her spot perched on my shoulder as I ran back into the fray - casting _Dark Chain _and then _Quad Blow _in quick succession. The chain was successful and caught the mini boss off guard for a second but he quickly recovered and used his blue guitar to guard himself from three of the four hits. I scowled and teleported back.

"Not really, Evan can see where Eli is and so can Mir. They wouldn't launch the attack without knowing you were out of the way first." Tempest noted confidently before pausing and then saying, "Rebuff Eli."

I recasted _Blood Drain _and _Staff Boost _in quick succession before making my way over to Evan who was casting repeated _Fire Circle's _to Mir's no doubt delight.

"Yeah… I don't think just attacking it is going to work out so well. It's been what, twenty minutes now?" I said, summoning two mana potions into my hand and tossed one to Evan before gulping down the other one.

Evan took the potion with a smile and nodded in gratitude. He uncapped it and took a sip before chanting _Lightning Bolt_ again with Mir following obligingly and in the next second another bolt of yellow green lightning struck the black and blue guitar wielding figure.

Straight on if I might add.

… I believe that I'm allowed to feel a certain amount of vindictive pleasure at the following growl that said figure emitted as it tried to stand up.

Turning away from the mini boss I looked at Evan contemplatively. "Hey Evan, do you have any other spells we could use-"

"_LOOK OUT!_"

Before I could even blink I felt a hand on my chest pushing me back and then Light forcibly taking control of his yellow aura to activate _Teleport _and then…

Then I was twenty feet away and looking at a now smoking crater which lay _right where I was before-_

"Evan!" My heart leapt out of my throat and I felt my blood go cold. I made to step, to run to where the crater was and where _stupid, stupid Evan pushed me out of the way oh my goddess is he okay?! _Light's expert control on my yellow aura however kept me rooted firmly in place and I could only watch helplessly and wait for the smoke to settle.

At least that was before I realized that it wasn't really my blood that had gone cold but that the air _itself _was slowly lowering in degree.

"_Ice Breath_." I heard Evan's voice, soft sounding - maybe because of the distance - chant the spell and the air dropped a few more degrees before being sucked past me and towards...

"Mir!" I gasped, he was only a few feet away from the mini boss which was still trying to stand. From this angle I could see it glaring angrily with little bolts of electricity sparking to life around it. However the mini boss couldn't do anything because in the next second all the cold air around the area that had been sucked in by Mir was released in a single, strong breath.

With my enhanced eyes I could make out faint ice crystals and icicles within it, all of which striking the mini boss. Even when the attack ended and Mir hovered victoriously near it I watched amazed as parts of the mini boss starting to freeze- frost gathering together and spreading across its body.

In that moment Light released his control on my yellow aura and in the next second I felt myself propelled forward only for my vision to go blue before returning to normal. I stood gaping in the middle of the crater to see Evan sitting down gripping his wand loosely with a couple of burns marking his lightly tanned skin with both his clothes and hair being slightly singed too.

He was _hurt_ but at least he was _okay_.

Letting out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding I fell to knees next to my best friend, my heart still thumping loudly in my chest. "Oh goddess Evan don't _scare me like that!_" I practically screeched at him, taking his shoulders into my hands and shaking him slightly.

"Ha ha, ow." Evan chuckled, eyes a little blank and incomprehensive and I stopped the shaking immediately and started to fuss over him. It wasn't until I had a white potion pressed to his lips and ready to shove down his throat that his eyes cleared and pushed me away with another chuckle, somewhat uneasy sounding this time. "I'm okay, just fine Eli. I'm just happy… That you're alright." He reassured me, eyes looking everywhere but me before settling on Mir quite a bit away from us.

With some sort of unspoken command Mir turned around and grinned a large dragon grin which included a full display of his teeth. Sharp teeth if I may add.

The grin faded easily into a small smug smile as the onyx dragon flapped his wings over to the two us sitting in the mini crater. "All taken care of master! That mini boss monster thing was starting to freeze over and was halfway through it I think but then it vanished. The dead-and-defeated kind of vanished though, not the teleport I'm-still-alive kind of vanished." Mir reassured us as he landed on the side of Evan.

"That's a relief." I smiled at Mir and then turned back to Evan, an apology already forming on my lips when he held up a hand to stop me.

"No need to apologize Eli, I'm fine really. And how were you supposed to know that the mini boss could still whip out an attack like that while he was down?" He smiled at me softly, trying to reassure me but I could still feel the guilt weighing down at me. Evan could tell too apparently because he frowned and moved forward to smack the side of my head.

"_I'm fine_." He said, emphasizing the words. "The attack didn't really hit me straight on anyways and even then- I had your blue aura upping my defense and one of my own spells, _Magic Guard_ protecting me too."

I let out a reluctant sigh. "Okay, okay. I get it, you're fine." I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. "Mind enlightening on what that spell just now was? And _why _you never thought to use it before in the first place?"

Evan smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and I felt my expression soften at the familiar gesture. I wondered if he realized just how often he did that. "That was _Ice Breath_. It's a new spell me and Mir learned but we haven't had all that much time to practice it so it's still a little crazy. Kind of hard to control and stuff like that. It's why I never used it before when we were fighting."

"Hmm, is that so? It's a strong spell that's for sure." I noted. "It'd be awesome if you guys could get it down perfectly."

"Yeah, but I don't like using it in enclosed places like this. The freeze is also a pain if you get hit and there's much more of a likely chance when I'm not in the open when using it." Evan grimaced slightly at that. "Actually you know, when we were first trying out the spell I accidentally froze my right leg-" He patted said leg, rubbing specifically around the calf. "That was really scary. Even worse than the time when I accidentally shocked myself with _Lightning Bolt _or when I burned through my clothes the first time I tried _Fire Circle_."

My eyes widened and I couldn't help the sound coming from my throat, a mixture of both a laugh and a gasp. "You _what_?"

"It's… A long story. A kind of embarrassing long story." He admitted, face slightly flushed. "I never get any of the spells right when I first try them so I've been _trying _to be a bit more careful when using new ones but they still end up… Yeah. I'm actually kind of proud of the fact that I only ended up freezing my right leg- It wasn't even that bad of a freeze though!" He quickly reassured me at my worried and exasperated expression. "A mild _Fire Circle _took care of it very easily!"

"You… You used _Fire Circle _on _yourself_?!" I questioned gaping.

Evan shrugged. "It's really the spell me and Mir know best. Even to the point where we can now control the output of the flame."

"I- Okay." I stood up and dusted myself off. "You're crazy Evan, _oh goddess how are you still alive?_" I mumbled to myself unbelieving.

Evan grinned, beaming and stood up too. "Uh, luck? Or maybe I'm just awesome like that."

"Sure you are Evan." I told him, the sarcastic tint in my tone obvious and he nudged me in the side with his elbow in response.

* * *

"That was fast, I shouldn't have expected any less with you two though I suppose." Ms. Lana smiled as we approached her.

Evan and Mir let out similar smug grins at the praise and I hit the two boys slightly on the head. "Don't let it get to your heads you two."

"I know that. You do two right Mir?" Evan said easily grin still prominent on his face.

"Of course master. Modesty is the best policy after all."

I nodded. "Mm… Yes, modesty is very good especially for you Mr. I-burned-my-clothes-with-my-own-spell." I grinned when Ms. Lana raised an amused eyebrow at us and burst out laughing when Evan openly gaped at us.

"Wha- Eli! Don't go around telling other people that!" Evan said while practically shrieking, his face colored a bright red.

"Well… I suppose not everyone can be perfect." Ms. Lana admitted and Evan smiled slightly at her. "But at the same time burning your clothes with your own spell is a bit much…" She trailed off with a small smirk.

Evan's expression turned into one of mock hurt. "You're all impossible." He said, arms folded across his chest before he shifted on his feet and spoke again. "Ah, but besides that. Is there anything else you need done Ms. Lana?"

Both me and Ms. Lana straightened at being reminded at our first matter at hand. Ms. Lana shook her head. "No that is all I needed done but…"

"But?" I prompted.

She reached into her coat and took out two envelopes, a red one and a purple one. She handed Evan the red while handing me the purple and smiled sincerely. "I would like to invite you two to Blake's debut concert which will be held in two months. There are VIP passes in there of course and lodgings are included too during the week of the concert."

My eyes widened slightly and from the corner of my eyes I could see Evan's do the same. "Thank you so much Ms. Lana." I said, gripping the envelope tightly in my hand.

"Wow! VIP passes? That's awesome, thanks!" Evan cheered enthusiastically, holding his envelope out so that Mir could see it too. "I can't wait to see the concert already!"

I hummed. "Two months though? That's quite a bit of time."

"Yeah…" Evan frowned slightly. "I wonder what we can do to kill time for two months?" He thought aloud contemplatively.

"We?" I looked at him, slightly surprised. Was I included in that too?

Evan's eyes widened and he backtracked. "Ah, well um. Sorry, I just assumed that we'd still be…" He avoided my eyes and frowned. "I- Sorry. You probably have to take care of some other stuff huh? The actual reason why you came here in the first place."

"Oh yeah." I blinked, and watched kind of amused as Evan's expression dropped even further. "But it's finished now."

His head snapped up so fast that it was almost comical. "Wait, what?"

I grinned. "Well, I'm pretty much on my own adventure and I had come to Kerning Square due to some rumors I heard. Although I do need to go back home it isn't until a while more. Ah, two weeks max I think."

"R-Really? So you'll be staying in Victoria Island for a bit longer?" Evan asked hopefully.

Nodding I answered, "At least long enough for me to accompany you back to Henesys so that you can talk to your parents."

He faltered at that and looked at me disbelievingly. "Wait… What?"

I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow at him. "You thought I forgot about you not telling them about your little adventure?"

"Um…" Evan fumbled for words and turned to look at Mir for help. The onyx dragon however just shrugged.

"Sorry master, but I agree with Eli. You need to go see your parents."

Evan huffed. "Well, it's not like I don't want to see them it's just…"

"You're scared how they'll react?" I asked knowingly and he nodded slightly, letting out a sigh.

Ms. Lana hummed. She had been observing our conversation and stayed out of it so far due to not being related to it. "This seems a bit personal, but I agree with the overgrown flying lizard and Eliza. Since the mini boss was taken care of I've already got notices from the security guards overlooking the cameras that the respawn rate of monsters is decreasing drastically. They also seem to be a lot hostile now so maybe with luck we'll be able to open the mall back to civilians but who knows." She shrugged before continuing. "Now off you two go, I expect to see you back in two months and then you can see for yourself what has happened with the mall." She shooed us away with a hand and we followed obligingly.

As me and Evan made our way to the subway station I stopped in my tracks upon remembering something. Turning towards Evan I told him, "Hold on, I've got to make a private call. Sorry, I'll be right back."

Evan nodded and sat down at one of the available benches with Mir, like always, hovering by his side with my auras (which were now almost always) sitting on top of his scaly head. After walking a bit of a distance away to make sure that they wouldn't overhear I took out my communicator and waited for Brighton to answer.

"Eliza?" I heard my teacher's voice crackle from the electronic device.

I smiled. "Brighton! Mission complete. It turns out the mall had a mini boss and that was causing some strange stuff to happen but I took care of it." I reassured him and then turned slightly to look over at Evan and Mir and added on, "Well, me and a friend took care of it actually."

There was a knowing _ah_ in response and I looked at the communicator in confusion. "Brighton?"

"I take it that you were able to meet up with your best friend, Evan right?" My teacher's cheerful voice rang out and my eyes widened.

"How-?"

There was a distinct _tsk _sound that interrupted my question and I listened as Brighton spoke again. "Why did you think I specifically chose this mission for you?"

"You _knew _Evan was going to be here? But how? And I've only _talked _about him really so… How?" I was flabbergasted. I couldn't even process the fact that Brighton had seemingly planned my meeting with Evan.

"The Resistance's information network is quite vast." Was Brighton's vague reply, but I could hear the amusement ringing clear in his tone.

I huffed. "The least you could've done is warn me beforehand. I almost had a heart attack seeing him again. I mean, I was happy but surprised even more so."

"You survived." Was Brighton's reply and my finger reached over to end the call when he spoke again. "And on that topic, I think it would do us good if you could bring him over to Edelstein. He… He's a very special boy. Claudine and the rest of us wants to talk to him."

My eyes narrowed. Special boy? So _that's _how Brighton knew about him. He knew that Evan was Freud's successor, or guessed it probably. I wasn't going to let him know that I was privy to that information though. It was payback for not letting me know he was tracking my best friend and setting me up to meet him I suppose. "I could try asking him but I'm not making any promises."

"That's enough." Brighton reassured me easily and the conversation quieted and soon we said our goodbyes and I shut the communicator off. I sighed and made my way back to Evan, Mir, and my auras.

Stepping in front of Evan I grinned at his slightly despondent expression. "Come on Evan, don't looks so down."

He glared at me slightly. "My parents are going to kill me."

I waved off his comment easily. "No they won't, I'll be there too to help lower the blow. And besides-" My grinned widened. "If all goes well and you're still whole and together and fully functioning after the visit then you can come with me to see my hometown!"

Evan blinked up at me, eyes wide and I backtracked. "Well, only if you want to of course."

My auras on the other hand were cheering at the thought of going home soon and my smile softened at the thought too. Home, it had only been a few days but I could tell that I did miss it.

"Ah, sure! I'd love to see your hometown Eli." Evan beamed at me, excited cheer practically emanating from him and he stood up quickly from his seat on the bench. Then he proceeded to drag me over to the subways. "The faster we talk to my parents the faster we can go right?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well yes, but we're not just going to talk to them and then leave okay? It's your _family _Evan. Don't you want to see them?"

That made him falter. "I… I _do _want to see them it's just…" He fumbled for the right words and I waited patiently for him to speak again. "What if they don't like me now? I'm different from how I was when I left, I know it. And I left them, I _forgot _about them. They were just pushed to the back of my mind maybe unconsciously or maybe not and I only really remembered about them when you brought it up and that's… That's not really normal is it?"

"You're not that different in my opinion Evan, maybe a bit more confident but other than that… Although it's possible that I'm just not all that aware of changes, I remember you saying I was a bit oblivious." I shrugged and continued. And I suppose not, it's not really normal in my opinion to forget about your parents." I stated unabashedly and I saw Evan flinch and then continued. "But there's nothing wrong with being abnormal Evan, it makes you unique." I linked my arm with his and he stared at me, taken aback by the physical contact.

Grinning I continued my little speech. "And that just basically means that you love adventuring a lot, so much that you forgot about your family I guess. You can make up for it by going to talk to them now and telling them this new stuff about you." I nodded towards Mir and I watched as he slowly started to smile.

"Yeah, I guess I can."

I smiled back. "Then off to Henesys we go! And then I can get payback at some wild pigs for scaring us when we were what, seven years old? Ah the memories, they're coming back to me now."

"Like that time where you barged into my house and almost killed me?" Evan grinned.

I huffed. "You were a total wimp back then- and it's your fault for leaving the door unlocked."

"People hardly ever came by the pig farm and besides Utah was out doing stuff so I wasn't going to lock him out of the house or something." Was Evan's matter-of-fact reply.

"Excuses, excuses!" I scolded him.

He nudged his elbow into my side. "Eliza!"

Ah yes, memory lane was a wonderful place to be after all.

* * *

**Omg this is a monster.**

**But yeah, ha ha late update uh sorry?**

**I make no promises as to when the next update will be. If we're lucky maybe within the next two weeks.**

**I kind of like this chapter, maybe for the sole reason that I've slaved over it so much within the past few days but who knows? But really, thank you so much for all of you who read this story and enjoy it. Even though I'm horrible at deadlines and updating consistently.**

**The battle scenes are kind of meh in my opinion. It's my first time writing them so I tried my best but... I can only hope that I get better with practice. Which I'll be definitely getting with the way this story is progressing. (Which is still so far from completion if any of you were wondering.)**

**I don't actually plan to start on the next chapter for a little bit because I want to work on some ideas I have for my other story Behind The Screen. (check it out it has only one chapter though lol)**

**And... I don't really have anything else to say.**

**(But an editing note: This chapter is so long so I just sort of went through a spelling and grammar checker to edit this and didn't read it over so if it doesn't make sense at some points I'm really sorry check back like tomorrow and it might be better. I would read over it but my eyes hurt right now just looking at it so _I'm sorry but later I'll edit it. _And I have a little bit of faith that I'm a good enough writer to at least make _some sense _with her writing so that it possibly doesn't need that much of a look over?)**

**Next Time on Past The Screen: Henesys omg I love that town. And other stuff of course but secret you know.**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 12/2/14**

**Finished Writing: 12/29/14 (I made it before the new year at least)**


	21. Evan's Home

_Past The Screen_

Chapter 21

* * *

The wind flew past me mercilessly and my hands automatically went to my face to push my hair away as I started spitting out purple hair from my mouth. Maybe it was about time I get it cut.

"You okay there Eli?" Evan's amused voice rang out from beside me.

Forcibly pulling my now-apparently-too-long hair back with one hand I used the other to dig into my bag to procure a hair tie. "Just peachy Eva." I remarked with a grin, my fingers latching onto a simple black rubber band and using it to tie my hair up into a ponytail.

"Don't call me that!" Was Evan's indignant reply and I heard Mir huff out a chuckle from his spot on the other side of Evan. At the moment the three of us, me, my auras, Evan, and Mir were huddled under one of the very few trees near the outside of Henesys. It was mostly just lush green plains surrounding us with the occasional shrub here and there.

We were currently taking a break before entering the town. It was Evan's idea and I was almost certain that it wasn't so much that he was tired but that he was trying to mentally prepare himself for his not-so-far-now reunion with his family.

Normally I would just let him take his time but unfortunately for him I was sort of on a time limit. Besides, he had already had a lot of time to prepare himself anyways considering the fact that he had made us take several breaks over our trip from Kerning City to here. (Including a stop in Lith Harbor because _oh you haven't been there yet right Eli? Let's go there!_)

So with only a slightly guilty conscious I stood up from my spot on the grass and stretched. "Let's go guys?"

"But-" Was Evan's feeble protest which I cut off immediately with a slightly annoyed look.

"Come on Evan don't be a wimp."

He frowned, kicking the grass at his feet with a put-out expression. "I'm not being a wimp. I just…" Evan trailed off, letting out a small sigh as he too stood up.

My face softened. "I know. Don't worry I'm sure everything will turn out fine. They'll understand because they're your family." I paused for a second, looking for something else encouraging to say. "You've gotta hope for the best you know?"

He nodded slowly, looking up at me. "Yeah, you're right." He smiled at me, eyes set and determined if only a tad worried. "Come on let's go then."

With that being said we left the shade of the tree after Evan transformed Mir into his first form and started walking towards the front gate of the town. I could make out two guards standing on each side of the gate and I looked over at Evan to see if he recognized either of them. He didn't.

"Do we need ID to enter?" I asked him curiously, fingers twitching and ready to reach in my bag if needed but Evan shook his head.

"The guards are just there to make sure no monsters make it through the town. And I suppose it's to also keep out suspicious looking people out but we should be fine." He breathed out, posture still stiff and tense. Then he looked over me and I caught a sparkle of humor in his eyes as he gave me an appraising look as his body relaxed slightly. "Probably."

I bumped my shoulder against his and stuck my tongue at him. "Excuse me? Who is the one who has a flying dragon here?" But I couldn't help the smile tugging at me lips.

He shrugged with an easy grin. "In this form Mir's just a slightly overgrown lizard. Nothing weird or suspicious looking about that." He rubbed the top of Mir's head and said dragon made a sound of contentment at that.

"We'll probably just seem like animal lovers or something." Light said thoughtfully from his spot on my head with the rest of my auras.

I raised an eyebrow at him although he couldn't see it. "You think so?"

"It's a definite possibility with you traveling with three birds and Evan with his… Overgrown lizard." Tempest acknowledged and Star made a sound of agreement.

"I'm not an overgrown lizard though." Mir mumbled. "I'm a big and powerful Onyx dragon!"

Evan smiled down at Mir reassuringly and continued stroking his scales. "Of course Mir, we all know that. But right now in this form you're an overgrown lizard because the townspeople might get scared seeing you in your original dragon form."

Mir huffed slightly. "They're all just scaredy cats. It's not like I'd ever hurt them."

"But the townspeople don't know that." I cut in reasonably. "In fact, I bet that the only knowledge of dragons they have are those that live in Leafre and those are monsters."

"That's right… I remember me and master going to Leafre once. We didn't see any of the dragons there though. The chief person said they were too strong for us." Mir reminisced and I blinked before looking up at Evan in question.

He furrowed his brows for a second before he seemed to remember something. "Ah yes, we both went to Leafre once to find out what kind of dragon Mir was. Chief Tatamo restricted us entry from anywhere other than the town and the docking area though because we weren't anywhere near strong enough to take on the monsters around the town."

I nodded. "The monsters near Leafre, _especially_the dragons are extremely powerful. It's completely understandable that he didn't let you two try and fight them-"

The sound of metal hitting stone cut me off and my instincts made me form mana in my hand to summon my staff. From the corner of my eye I could briefly register Evan reacting similar to me, reaching into his jacket for his wand with one hand and supporting Mir with the other and I couldn't help but smile slightly.

Before my staff materialized though I was jarred out of it by a deep voice yelling the name of my best friend.

"Evan!"

My head whipped forward to see one of the town guards running towards us. A quick glance back at the gate showed that the other was still standing there, looking at the three of us with a slightly bewildered expression.

Evan on the other hand I could see had stiffened but his expression showed complete confusion. He obviously didn't know who the person was but apparently they seemed to know him.

We waited a bit anxiously for the town guard to reach us and when he did he ran up to Evan and put his hands on his shoulders, inspecting him deeply.

I couldn't help but frown, my eyes narrowing and hands twitching and ready to intervene at any moment. Evan looked even more uncomfortable now and Mir looked only a second away from biting at the man's arm. Said man however didn't seem to register my unwelcome stare, Evan's lack of comfort, or Mir's sharp teeth.

"You're Evan right?" The man asked, sounding surprised and relieved all at the same time. Evan bit his lip before sending a quick glance at me before nodding slowly. The man seemed to almost _melt_. His posture slacked and the near death grip he had on Evan's shoulders lessened. My best friend took this chance to move away from him slightly.

"You… Know me?" Evan asked cautiously, confusion easily etched into his features. I continued to watch the exchange in silence, deeming it unnecessary for me to intervene at the moment. My auras like always followed my lead and Mir seemed to do the same too.

The man nodded. "Gustav is a good friend of mines."

And just like that I watched Evan as he inhaled sharply. The town guard didn't miss that and his grin faded away into a stern expression. "Just where have you been _boy_?" He emphasized the word 'boy' and Evan flinched slightly. "Your family has been worried _sick_!"

Before Evan could even formulate a response though the man turned to me and I regarded him blankly, expression betraying nothing. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "And who are _you _missy?"

I followed his movement and also crossed my arms over my chest, not really caring about the fact that I was disrespecting him at the moment. "I'm Evan's friend." I stated simply before walking over to Evan and grabbing onto his arm.

"Hey, let go of him-" The man's frown deepened and he reached his hand out towards us but pulled it back immediately at Mir's growl. A small smile tugged at my lips and it caused Evan to jar out of his slight funk. He looked down at Mir reproachfully before giving me the same look.

I shrugged and then turned to look at the town's guard who seemed to be looking at us with caution, Mir especially. "Well, we'll be off now to go see Evan's family who's apparently worried sick about him." I sent Evan a pointed look to which he huffed slightly before turning away.

Letting out a sigh we started walking to the town gate with the man following a couple of steps behind us. The other guard standing at the gate was looking even more confused than before. When we reached it I nodded towards him since I didn't know what else to do. To my surprise he nodded back almost in a daze and I struggled to hold back a giggle.

After walking a few steps past the gates I heard the man say to the other town guard, "Did you know that Gustav's son had a girlfriend?"

Evan seemingly choked on his spit which signaled to me that I wasn't the only one who heard it. I watched bemusedly as his face turned red and he shoved at me slightly at seeing my expression.

Then the towns guard answered. "No, but I suppose that answers the question about why he ran away in the first place."

At that point I couldn't help it and using the hand that wasn't holding on to Evan's arm I tried to stifle my giggles. Oh, this was too funny. I honestly never expected a misunderstanding like this. Maybe it was a normal occurrence for couples to run away together here.

"Can we _please_ walk faster?" Evan bemoaned.

I nodded and then said in between giggles, "This town is so much better than how I remembered it being. Aren't you glad we came back to Henesys?"

He glared at me. My giggles turned into laughs.

* * *

In my opinion, it really was only reasonable to assume that considering the fact that before even _entering _the town we met someone that knew Evan, we'd run into someone else that also knew Evan before reaching his house. It was just his luck that it turned out to be someone that not only knew him, but he also knew too.

"Oh _no_." I heard Evan mumble under his breath before he suddenly yanked me behind… A bulletin board?

My eyes narrowed in slight confusion. "Evan?"

Said boy kept a firm grip on my arm as he pressed his back against the wooden board before sneaking a peek behind it. Whatever he saw though wasn't good apparently because he snapped back behind it almost immediately.

"Sorry Eli it's just… There's someone I know walking over there and…" He trailed off with a grimace.

I raised an eyebrow while ignoring a sudden clench in my stomach, because Evan had friends other than me? Why didn't he ever mention them in his letters? I know I told him about all my other friends in my letters_. _Shaking my head slightly to rid myself of those thoughts I asked him, "Shouldn't you… I don't know? Say hi?"

"We'll probably see her after we visit my family anyways so there's no sense in meeting her now-"

"Evan! You- You're here!" A high-pitched voice called out in surprise from the other side of Evan. Both mine and Evan's head whipped towards the voice and I stared in surprise at seeing someone vaguely familiar. And it wasn't due to meeting them in person- _no_; it was from my gaming memories.

_Camila, _my memories informed me as I took in the petite orange-haired girl with deep blue eyes. She looked to be only a few years older than Evan and was maybe nineteen years old at the latest.

"I almost can't believe it Evan..." Camila trailed off as she looked at Evan almost in awe while completely missing me. Not that I minded though, I was more than happy to let Evan handle this reunion of his by himself. It would be good practice for his actual family after all.

Unfortunately Evan didn't seem to share the same thoughts and he turned to look at me almost helplessly after stuttering out a, _yea I'm back home now sorry for leaving_.

Camila's eyes followed Evan's and her eyes widened as she finally noticed me. "Ah! You!"

I blinked and offered her what I hoped to be a polite smile. "Yes, me? I'm-"

"Eliza! Eliza… Hertsh right?" The orange-haired girl interrupted excitedly as she adjusted her grip on the wooden basket so that it rested in her elbow in order to clasp her hands together in front of her. "You're Evan's friend, Utah told me about you!" Not even a second after that she let out a small gasp, her eyes widening with some sort of revelation.

A foreboding feeling ran through me and I tried to force a smile through my grimace as I practically mouthed the words that flowed out of her mouth. It was way too obvious - especially after me and Evan's last encounter - what the conclusion that she came to was after all.

"Evan ran away from home to be with you?!"

Ah yes, misunderstandings everywhere and oh why don't look you look at that, there's tomato-faced Evan right on cue.

"No! Of course not Camila! I just happened to meet her and she decided to come with me while I came to visit home!" Evan denied thoroughly and I nodded in agreement, still finding the situation amusing nonetheless.

Unsurprisingly enough though, Camila seemed skeptical of Evan's explanation. "Really Evan? You know, I _promise _I won't get mad if you did run away to be with her. I mean, you wouldn't believe how many times me and Utah thought about that ourselves so it's no big deal. You're just braver than the rest of us is all."

"W-What? You two were planning to run away together?" Evan gaped and I let out a slightly disbelieving sigh.

Camila waved her hand dismissively. "Oh _Evan_. It's normal for couples to think about stuff like that. Most don't go through with it though but the idea's almost always there as a last resort I suppose."

I followed the conversation with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. A couple deciding to run away together _definitely _wasn't normal in my opinion. It had a permanent place in my mind as _Cliché Couple Events That Happens in Fiction_. Emphasis on the word _fiction_.

It seemed like the people in this town didn't share the same views as me though. Sad.

"Oh but let's forget about that! Evan, you _must _come home right now! You have no idea how worried Utah and your parents have been. I mean, sure I was worried too but I always kept faith that you'd come back soon and that Utah was overreacting with his thoughts of kidnapping. No offense Evan but I don't think anyone would want to kidnap you." Camila babbled as she grabbed me by the wrist and Evan by his shoulder as she led us out from behind the bulletin board.

A quick glance at my best friend's expression showed slight relief but at the same time exasperation. It seemed like he was used to Camila's babbling which I supposed was only natural considering the fact that she was his sister-in-law.

I peeked over the other girl's shoulder and frowned at the missing of a ring on her left hand.

Well, she was basically his sister-in-law I suppose then. Utah was probably just too much of a wimp to propose. Or maybe they were too young still?

I sighed and pushed those thoughts out of my mind for the moment. We were going to start entering the fields soon after all if my memory was correct. Sure the Orange Mushrooms and Pigs usually stayed away from the paths. They also wouldn't stand much of a chance against me and Evan but there was still Camila to worry about.

A quick glance at Evan showed that he was on the same wavelength as me and I smiled.

If any monster tried to attack our little trio of humans plus magical creatures thinking we'd be easy prey then they would certainly be in for a rude awakening.

* * *

Sadly, (or thankfully I suppose) no monsters attacked us and we soon find ourselves at Evan's house. It didn't look like it had changed at all quite frankly and the three of us now stood waiting by the wooden gate. Waiting for what though, I wasn't sure.

"So… Are we just going to walk through the gate or…?" I trailed off after a couple of seconds of nothing happening.

Camila turned to me with a small smile. "I'm just waiting for Evan. I think he should be the one to go in first since it's his first time returning home in a while."

I nodded in understanding and turned to the boy in question. "Evan?"

"Give me a second okay Eli? It's been like a couple of months since I was last home. And I didn't really tell them I was leaving in the first place…" Evan frowned, biting his lip. His brows were furrowed and I watched as he let out a sigh.

Placing an encouraging hand on his shoulder I said, "Don't worry Evan, everything's going to be fine. I mean, your family will probably be ecstatic to see you after all this time of _hearing no word from you_." I emphasized the last part with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you I just kind of forgot okay? A lot of things were happening at that time." He shifted his weight slightly across his two feet uncomfortably. "Look, here I'll open the gate now. The door to the house is probably open too at this time of the day so-" He was cut off as the door of the house took that exact moment to open and reveal…

"Utah." Evan breathed out and I took in the new figure inquisitively. Utah had changed quite a bit since my visit a couple of years ago. He was taller for one thing, and his clothes were a lot baggier. His hair was also a bit longer, pulled into a small ponytail that curled slightly.

He had some stubble too, which I frowned at. I never really liked guys with stubble. It seemed that Camila apparently liked that though.

I shook my head slightly and focused on the situation going on in front of me. Which included me standing off to the side like a slightly confused bystander, Camila smiling like there wasn't anything wrong with the world, Evan looking pensive and anxious, and finally Utah who looked the very definition of shock and relief- both of them at the same time in fact.

"-_Evan oh goddess is that really you?"_

After a small amount of hesitance and a quick adjustment as to the holding on the onyx dragon in his arms Evan slowly raised a hand in greeting while smiling slightly. "It's… Good to see you bro."

A pause.

"_Mom! Dad! _You'll never believe it! _Evan's back!_" Utah yelled with a boyish grin while running up to us. He stopped a mere foot away from Evan and I figured that the only thing stopping him from enveloping my best friend in a hug was the creature held in his arms.

"And he brought a… Overgrown lizard?" Utah added a bit quieter, and maybe more than a bit confused.

Mir growled at the same time Evan said indignantly, "Mir's not an overgrown lizard! He's a dragon!"

Utah looked at Evan to Mir and then back to Evan in disbelief. "Really? Oh-_kay _Evan sure he is." Utah shrugged, seemingly not interested to argue but still not believing what Evan had said. His expression however turned serious a second later. "But seriously Evan, just where have you _been_? Do you have any idea how worried we've all been?" Utah's voice cracked slightly at the end and I couldn't hide a wince. From the corner of my eyes I saw Evan do the same and seemed to shrink back a little even.

I took that as my cue to step in to the conversation.

"I assure you that Evan has a really good reason for all of this Utah. So if you'd just let us explain-" I started but was cut off by Utah soon enough.

"You! You're that girl!" He pointed at me before looking back at Evan in confusion.

I looked at him blankly. "I'm a girl yes. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by _that _girl though."

Utah rolled his eyes. "You're Eliza right? Your hair is practically unforgettable. I've still yet to meet anyone who has _purple _hair of all things. Not to mention the fact that for some reason you wanted to befriend this weirdo brother of mines who went ahead and _ran away from home _and brought back a lizard- excuse me, a _dragon _of all things."

He frowned, and I found myself not liking how his eyes narrowed as certain conclusions were made- Wrong ones definitely. I sighed internally and prepared myself to deflect any accusations thrown my way but was caught off guard by the sound of footsteps coming from the house.

There in all of their glory were Evan's parents. Aunt Anna and Uncle Gustav didn't seem to have changed a bit. I noticed a couple more wrinkles on their faces though but that was only natural.

"Evan! _Oh _you have no idea how relieved I am to see you!" Aunt Anna gushed and- were those _tears _in her eyes? Oh wow…

"Where have you been boy? You had us all worried sick! You better have had a good explanation for this but even then you're grounded until you're an adult!" Uncle Gustav reprimanded, happy relief seemingly gone or actually maybe just better hidden. I frowned at the last part of what he said though. That wasn't going to work out well with my plans after all…

As if sensing my sudden discomfort, (or maybe he was just looking for help in this situation) Evan turned his gaze towards me. This then caused the other members of his family to follow too.

Aunt Anna brightened up instantly. "Ah! Eliza! You're here on Victoria Island? You should have sent us a letter to tell us about your arrival."

"Eliza? Ah… You're Evan's friend right? What are you doing here?" Uncle Gustav asked almost suspiciously and Aunt Anna whacked her husband on the arm.

"Don't be rude honey!" But then her expression turned to one of slight confusion and curiosity. "But… Why _are _you here? With Evan in fact." Her eyes widened as she glanced between the two of us. "Don't tell me…"

I laughed a bit nervously. "Aunty Anna, I assure you that whatever you're thinking right now is probably very, _very _wrong. In fact, if we could just get inside the house I'm sure that both me and Evan could uh, shed some light on the situation."

Evan's parents shared a glance and nodded in sequence at this and Camila took the lead towards the house by pulling her boyfriend along with her. I walked over to Evan and patted his back reassuringly. "Come on Evan it's time to regale your tale of wonderful adventure to your family."

He scowled weakly and I beamed at him. Evan's parents watched the exchange silently but I paid them no mind and proceeded to pull Evan with me towards the house. "Can't exactly put it off anymore anyways. Don't worry I'll be here to help out with explaining too." I reassured and smiled as his expression relaxed slightly.

However while I was the epitome of cheerful and reassuring on the outside, on the inside my mind was whirring as I tried to piece together different facts and reasons. There was no way Uncle Gustav could make good on that threat of Evan being grounded to adulthood.

It's not like the Black Mage was going to wait to be revived. And if Evan was going to be stuck here till adulthood which meant about five years… Well, that wouldn't do quite well for the world now would it?

* * *

Evan wasn't the best storyteller. I wasn't exactly one to talk either though. Somehow though, by some miracle we were able to explain the whole situation to Evan's family plus Camila. Whether they believed it or not was debatable though.

"Okay, so wait. You're telling us that Evan is supposed to be the successor of the _Maple World Hero Freud_ and that he can't stay here because he needs to train and become stronger to defeat the _Black Mage _who will soon be revived?" Utah asked incredulously which seemed to sum up everyone's thoughts sans mine and Evan's.

I nodded simply. "Yup."

Evan frowned. "You don't believe us." He stated glumly and Utah opened his mouth in an obvious retort when Aunt Anna cut him off.

"It's not that sweetie. It's just that it's…" She took in a deep breath. "It's hard to take in."

"It is Aunt Anna but I can tell that Evan's telling the truth." Camila smiled confidently and everyone turned to her in surprise. Utah most of all.

Crossing her legs and placing her hands over her lap Camila continued. "You all know I have a knack for being able to tell when someone is lying and I can tell he isn't." Utah frowned and opened his mouth to speak again but Camila shook her head. "Even without that though I know that Evan has changed. Maybe you all can't notice it because you've spent so much time with him that you have a specific image of him grained into your mind but I don't. It's not just in his looks or in the way he acts that he's changed though, although those are very different too. It's his very presence actually that's really changed."

"My…. Presence?" Evan parroted, obviously confused.

The orange-haired girl nodded. "Maybe it's because of your spirit pact with that ah, dragon you have but you just…" She tilted her head a little to the side. "How do I explain this? Your presence is quite reassuring and very strong, reliable. The kind of feeling I would think I'd get from a hero."

A smile made its way across my features as I listened to the orange-haired girl's explanation. Camila was… Nothing like I expected her to be, she was perhaps even better. She was calm, cheerful, and maybe even a little whimsical. I looked over to Evan and contemplated him for a couple of seconds.

The feeling you would think you'd get from a hero huh? I could see- or well _feel_ that now that I really thought about it. He did give off that feeling of reliability and I knew from experience by fighting next to him that he was indeed _very _strong.

A quick glance at the rest of Evan's family showed that they still seemed unconvinced, although perhaps now a little more open-minded. No one said anything for a while though. Evan and I didn't have anything else to add to our explanation so the two of us were just waiting for the rest of them to say something. I was in particular waiting for someone to speak so that I could do damage control if necessary.

Surprisingly though it was Evan's dad, Uncle Gustav who broke the silence.

"How long will you be here for son?"

It made my head snap to look at him and take in his expression. It was a mixture of anger and worry but understanding all the same. He knew at the very least that Evan was a part of something way bigger than he could ever imagine. I turned my head to look at Aunt Anna and saw her mimicking the same expression as her husband. It was like they were completely in sync.

Utah on the other hand couldn't seem to get a grasp on the situation properly. He didn't understand it to put it simply. Camila kept him under control however, her hand in his and her lips moving in quiet reassurances.

Evan looked to me in a silent question and I understood. We had planned that if everything went alright with his family and they understood his situation that we'd stay for a day or two before heading towards the airport. He wanted to know if we were still going to follow the plan.

I smiled slightly, but there was a tinge of sadness in there too. It wasn't like I wanted to separate Evan from his family but…

"We could probably stay the night and leave tomorrow in the afternoon." I answered Uncle Gustav's question. He nodded while looking at me curiously and posed another question, to me specifically this time.

"You two plan to travel together don't you? Then please take care of my son," Evan gaped and I snickered. "I'll trust you to keep him safe. It doesn't matter if he's some big-shot hero; he still needs people to watch out for him after all. Also, would you mind telling us just where you're planning on going after this?"

I grinned, my face lighting up at the thought. "We're going to my hometown, Edelstein."

* * *

It was a little past noon of the next day and me and Evan stood by the wooden gate of Evan's house. The past night wasn't too interesting, it was filled with a bunch of awkward conversations between Evan and his family plus Camila. I kind of just stood off to the side, not wanting to intrude.

I didn't mind though. This was Evan's moment, his family. I had already done my part by helping to explain and offering support so there was no need for me to interfere anymore.

That changed the next morning though. I somehow got roped into helping Anna prepare breakfast for everyone after waking up at an ungodly hour due to my strict sleeping schedule. After breakfast I then watched as Evan was soon whisked away by his brother and father. Both had apparently deemed that since it was going to be Evan's last day at the farm they were going to get as much work out of him as possible.

It led to some interesting memories.

_Evan spent his last morning at his home (for a long while) running around furiously. I snickered at seeing him go back and forth from the chicken coop to the pig stables in his farm clothes from my spot on the roof of the house._

_By some sixth sense Evan looked up from herding the chickens to glare at me. I waved gleefully at him._

"_Having fun?" I called out to him and I watched as he scowled._

"_Why don't you come down here and help out? Even Mir is helping!" Evan gestured towards his dragon partner who was carrying a carton of eggs on his back into a storage room._

_I shrugged and said simply. "I don't know what to do."_

_It was evidently the wrong thing to say though because a sudden gleam entered Evan's eyes and he yelled, "Utah! Eliza says she wants to help too so you can put her to work?!"_

_Utah appeared in a breeze and he looked away Evan for a couple of seconds before frowning. "Another set of hands would be good but where is she?"_

_Evan pointed at where I was sitting on the roof._

"_What is she doing up there?!" Utah yelled and ran towards the house in a near panic. "How'd you even get up there? Get down, wait no- you'll get hurt. Ugh, where's the ladder?"_

_I tried to wave my hands in a calming gesture and narrowed my eyes at Evan who was smirking off to the side. "I got up here by magic. You know, teleport?"_

_Utah relaxed slightly. "Oh yeah, you're some Magician-Mutation like Evan."_

_I raised an eyebrow. "Magician-Mutation?"_

"_You know, because you use magic like a Magician but you use it differently somehow?" Utah shrugged and I let the weird nickname go. "But seriously teleport back down. You can do that right?"_

"_Yeah, I can." I nodded, and then grinned. "But that wouldn't be too fun." And with a single thought to my auras to attach themselves to my head more thoroughly I jumped off._

_Sure I was only twelve-years-old but I was a Battle Mage trained by Brighton. I was incredibly fit physically and add in the passive effects of my auras a jump off the roof of a two-floor house wasn't anything too bad._

_Evan and Utah didn't know that though and I honestly felt a little bad for giving them a near heart attack. The shocked face of Evan when I landed right next to him on my feet however made up for it slightly._

"_You've got to teach me how to do that." He gasped out, looking at me in awe._

_Utah however got over his surprise almost impossibly fast. "Later, now you two are going to be put to work. Lots of it." He said as he grabbed the two of us by the back of our shirts and started to drag us away._

Evan sighed. His eyes going back and forth from his house and the open field before us. In that moment as I watched him I wondered just how could he do this. How could he leave behind his family? How could he accept all of a sudden being called the successor of a Hero like Freud? How could he… Do so many things.

It was different in my case. I had spent so much time over the past couple of years preparing myself for this. I knew what was going to happen, at least a vague outline of the events but Evan... He just had stuff dumped onto him without much of a warning. But still, he managed it somehow. He handled all these things coming out at him much better than I know a lot of people would in fact. It was a little inspiring, and it was something I admired him for.

"You okay?" I asked him quietly and he smiled at me.

"Yeah, I am." And then he turned to look one last time at his family and Camila who stood by the house waving. He waved back and I did the same.

I saw Camila grin at us. "Stay safe you two!"

"You too!" We both yelled back and after a couple more goodbyes between Evan's parents and his brother we walking into the open field.

Mir no longer was in his first form and was in his normal big-onyx-dragon mode. My auras were as always nestled in my hair, quiet for the most part as they had taken to being lately but a comfortable presence all the same.

We walked in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Evan seemed to be in deep thought and I didn't want to interrupt him.

My auras however didn't seem to share the same sentiment.

"We're going back home now right Eliza?" Star tweeted softly.

I paused for a second, my hand reaching up to pet the three birds in my hair. "Yes we are Star. But we'll be back here too so you better not forget it."

"It's Evan's home, your best friend's home of course we wouldn't forget it." Light said matter-of-factly. Tempest grunted in agreement.

A chuckle caught my attention and I turned to Evan with a question in my eyes.

He shook his head. "Sorry, it's just that your auras don't talk all that much. They haven't been lately actually so I almost forgot they could speak."

I blinked and looked up. "They're not usually quiet though. But they've been pretty quiet for most of our stay here in Victoria Island compared to how they are at home. Any of you feel like telling me why?"

There was a pause and I waited patiently for an answer.

"We may or may not have been in constant contact with Brighton this entire time." Tempest admitted sheepishly.

My expression blanked. "What?"

Evan frowned. "Who?"

"Eliza's master hehe…" Star tweeted nervously.

Light flapped his wings slightly. "We weren't telling him everything that was happening. It's just… He wanted an open connection between us and him so that if anything did go wrong he'd be able to contact you and track your location without the communicator"

"He did this… When he transformed you guys? And if he could do that in the first place what was the point in giving me a communicator?" I asked as I felt a vein in my forehead twitch slightly.

"Brighton was just worried about you!" Star squeaked as I reached my hands into my hair. I tsked as my fingers came up empty and I looked upwards at my three auras flying around.

Tempest made a soothing noise. "We've only really been telling him the bare minimum. But the constant link between us and his auras is quite draining. That's why we haven't been talking much."

"Since we're heading back home now though we let Brighton know and he cut the connection between us. We're free!" Light chirped happily as he flew in a circle.

Evan came into step beside me and crossed his arms and gave me a look. "Mind explaining a bit Eli?"

I scratched the back of my head. "It'll be clearer once we get to Edelstein I assure you."

"Uh huh." Evan looked at me pointedly and I shrugged.

"Well, seeing as how we have a lot to travel until the airport so I suppose I can tell you a bit. You see my auras are actually…"

And so I began explaining to Evan my past with the Resistance (nothing too specific because it was still technically a secret organization) and I regaled some interesting stories involved with my training.

A couple of days of traveling passed and after I ran out of stories Evan offered some of his own until we finally made it to Ellinia and we easily made our way to the docking area. (I was a bit surprised at not seeing James but I easily pushed that thought aside, it's not like I wanted to see him after all. I _did _lie to him) There waiting for us was none other than Belle who gave us all a cheerful salute.

"Eliza! Good to see you, and you guys too Star, Tempest, Light." Belle said as she approached us. Evan looked at me cautiously and I gave him a reassuring smile.

Seeing that Belle turned her attention to my best friend. "And you must be Evan!"

Evan nodded slightly and Mir peered up at her from his spot in Evan's arms. (We put him in his first form so as to not draw too much attention to ourselves.) "You are?" He asked with a hesitant smile.

Belle grinned. "The name's Belle. I suppose I'm like a sort of mentor figure to Eliza and I'm here as an escort I guess. Just to make sure you guys stay safe."

"I see…" But from his expression I could tell that Evan didn't really understand. I sighed and patted his shoulder in reassurance.

"Come on Evan, let's go. Aren't you excited to finally see my hometown?" I smiled, trying to relieve his nerves.

To my relief he relaxed and snorted. "Of course I am." He made a gesture with his arm. "Lead the way."

"Gladly." I cheered then proceeded to link hands with him and started to pull him towards where Belle was walking, backwards in fact and smiling at us almost fondly.

"Hope you're ready for a big welcome Eliza. Everyone's missed you quite a bit."

My smile softened. "I missed them too." But I squeezed Evan's hand and beamed at him. "I'm happy you're coming with me though, Evan."

"Best friends stick together." He said easily with a smile before adding, "And traveling to get stronger alone isn't very fun after all."

And with that being said we continued to make our way to the boat that would take me back home. Back to Edelstein.

* * *

**Ahaha... Hi.**

**Yeah it's been like forever I know, sorry for the late update.**

**Like last time I won't make any promises for the next one but it'll hopefully be soon?**

**As for this chapter... I kind of like it. Sorry if any of you who wanted more interaction between Evan's family though but that wouldn't work out very well. The plot's gotta keep going and I have a lot more planned for both Eliza and Evan.**

**Next Time on Past the Screen: Edelstein**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 1/17/15 (I started the chapter really late sorry sorry)**

**Finished Writing: 2/1/15 (My goal for next chapter is by Valentine's Day but don't quote me on it)**


	22. Time in Edelstein

_Past The Screen_

Chapter Twenty Two (It's been so long guys sorry about the wait)

* * *

Paperwork.

From what I've seen regarding the people around me there are only two opinions on said subject. It's either you hate it or you're neutral about it.

I find it interesting as to how I'm neither.

"Are you almost done Eli?"

Sighing slightly I spun my chair around to face Evan. He was leaning against the wall on my bed, a book being held limply from his hands with Mir in his first form resting by his side.

At the moment we were in my room at the Resistance Headquarters. After getting off the ship upon arriving in Edelstein both mine and Evan's cheer were quickly crushed when Belle reminded me about my mission report.

Thinking back I couldn't help but remember how the reminder startled me a little. Only because of the fact that I _completely_ forgot about it.

Now unlike some people in the former category of hating paperwork, (_Belle_) or those in the latter category of feeling neutral about paperwork, (_Brighton_) I happened to honestly enjoy doing it.

Paperwork was almost like a stress reliever to me in some weird way. Mainly because the only type of paperwork I had to do was mission reports. They were basically essays regarding what happened on the missions. And I liked writing essays, probably because they were pretty easy to do for me.

Well, except for that one essay my English teacher assigned five years ago. (It's been so long, where'd the time go?) I was now about halfway into that future she was telling us to predict and I highly doubted she'd believe how things were going for me so far.

Not like the me of five years ago would have believed it either though.

"Eli?"

Evan's voice broke me out of my thoughts and I glanced up to see that he was standing in front of me, expression laced in faint concern.

I offered him a sheepish smile. "Sorry Evan, I spaced out for a bit there."

"I know." He rolled his eyes, seemingly amused and I heard Mir snort. Evan's amusement however soon melted back into worry. "You looked a little… sad. Something wrong?"

Shaking my head I glanced behind me towards my laptop screen. A quick skim through the contents of my report showed that it was pretty much finished. I looked back at Evan and grinned.

"Nah, nothing's wrong." I faced back to my laptop and opened up my email account. "I'm done with my report so all I have to do is send it in to Claudine and then we can head out on that tour I said I'd take you on, okay?"

From the corner of my eyes I noticed Evan frown. He opened his mouth- to argue maybe- but closed it after a couple of seconds. His shoulders slumped slightly and he let out a sigh, "Okay Eli."

His reply sounded almost unenthusiastic and maybe even a little tiring. Biting my lip I went through the process of sending in my report as quick as possible. A couple of thoughts zipped around my mind as I did that. Was he upset? Mad? Was it because I brushed off his concern so easily?

After finishing my task I closed the lid of the laptop. Then I spun my chair around so that I could smile at Evan. "Ready for a tour?" I asked, injecting a bit more cheer into my voice than usual.

There was a breath of silence as I waited for his reply. Thankfully it was soon broken when Evan matched my smile with seeming ease. "Lead the way." He said while gesturing towards the door. The action caused a sense of relief to course through me.

He wasn't upset. Or if he was, then it wasn't to too high of a degree. I'd honestly prefer the former but I had a feeling the latter was more correct.

Taking in a deep breath I walked towards the door with Evan and Mir in tow and started navigating my way towards the nearest exit out of the Headquarters. My body was almost on autopilot as random thoughts started to go through my mind.

It was honestly a little weird to walk through the Headquarters without my auras around me. It was normal for me to hide them out in the open but here underground I was just accustomed to seeing them either skip around excitedly ahead of me (Light), bump shoulders with me while chattering happily (Star), or make odd but somewhat relevant comments from behind me (Crescent).

The three of them had decided to tag along with Belle after we reached the Headquarters. Their excuse being that they didn't seem to share my enjoyment of paperwork. It was something that Belle liked to tease me about. Something along the lines that since my auras didn't like paperwork it meant that _deep down_ (maybe Zakum cave entrance down) I actually didn't like paperwork either.

The thought of that brought a smile to face. At least, until a realization hit me and I stopped straight in my tracks.

From behind me I head Evan let out a surprised sounding, _woah_. Mir seemed to grumble a bit, muttering words too soft for me to hear and I whipped around to face them with eyes wide.

"I almost forgot about my auras!" I exclaimed and started to power walk in the direction of Belle's office.

Evan seemed frozen in either confusion or shock before turning to follow me. He seemed slightly baffled.

"How could you forget about them?"

I glanced behind me to make a face at him. "It just slipped my mind. But hey, at least I remembered."

I turned my body around to face him, walking backwards to catch him biting the inside of his cheek. To stop from smiling maybe. "Better late than never right?" He added to my statement and I nodded with my mouth quirking up just a little.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was think- _Ack!_"

I shrieked as I felt my back connect with someone else. Quickly I turned around, an apology already forming on my lips before I stopped. My head tilted to the side slightly. A smile made it's way to my lips.

"Hey _Brighton_. I almost didn't recognize you with your hair like-" I was cut off (again sadly) when Brighton's hand made contact with my head and _pushed_. The sudden action caught me by surprise and I found myself being forced down a foot or two.

"Not a _single _word." The Battle Mage Instructor ground out and I found myself following what Evan did just a couple seconds ago.

Or maybe not. I realized that I was biting too hard. My cheek was already hurting from trying to stop the laughter from escaping.

From behind me I heard Mir growl softly. My knees were started to hurt and I sat on the floor. Afterwards I turned slightly to give Evan a thumbs up. "Don't worry Evan, Mir. This is just my instructor, Brighton. I think I told you about him before…?" I trailed off at the end unsure, searching my memories to see if my statement held any truth to it.

It seemed that there was no need for that though because Evan's eyes brightened and he stepped forward so that he was next to me.

"So you're Eli's teacher?" Evan asked excitedly while Mir avoided eye contact, seemingly embarrassed.

Brighton nodded slowly, expression showing he was a bit surprised. "Yeah that's me. You're Evan then?" Brighton smiled, rubbing the back of his head slightly. The head that was currently blonde.

_Blonde._ The mere thought of it sent me into a fit of giggles. (I could already imagine the culprit of this prank. Belle most likely with a little help from Crystal.)

Feeling Brighton's glare on me I quieted down. However I couldn't help the small smile remaining on my face. That seemed to be good enough for my instructor though and so he bent down to offer me a hand. I took it gratefully and pulled myself up back into a standing position.

In my peripheral vision I could see that Evan was looking at me slightly confused. He got over it in a flash though, shrugging slightly and instead focused back onto Brighton.

"That's me." He grinned, belatedly answering Brighton's earlier question. He tilted his head down to look at the Onyx Dragon cradled in his arms. "And this is Mir."

"I'm sorry for growling at you before." Mir said softly, almost too soft to be heard. Evan sighed at that, petting Mir's head comfortingly.

Brighton shook his head. "It's alright Mir. You were worried about Eliza right? So it's okay." He gave them a reassuring smile before looking over towards me. "And speaking of being worried about Eliza, Claudine wants to see you. I was actually looking for you so that I could take you to the meeting room."

I blinked, my brows furrowing just slightly. Claudine wanted to see me? Why? I knew better than to argue with Claudine's orders though and let out a frustrated sigh.

"We're never going to get to do that tour." I said glumly, shoulders sluping a little.

From beside me I heard Evan laugh. "I'm the one being given the tour Eli. I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's supposed to be upset, not you."

"Why aren't you then?" I frowned while crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Evan held Mir a little tighter against his chest as he continued to smile. "Because we'll still have time to do the tour after the meeting right?"

"You're right Evan." Brighton interjected into our conversation and I clicked my tongue at him. He ignored me. "The faster the meeting is finished the faster you can leave so let's go."

And with that being said he started to usher both me and Evan (along with Mir) towards the meeting room.

* * *

Lies. Brighton lied to me.

Claudine didn't want to see me. She wanted to see Evan. Same goes for the rest of the higher ups currently in the room. We were all currently seated around a rectangular table with Claudine at the head. Brighton was on her right followed my me and Evan. On Claudine's left was Belle, Crystal, Tony, and Checky.

"It's nice to meet you Evan. I'm Claudine, the leader of the Resistance." Claudine smiled at my best friend and I watched as he tried (and failed) to match the smile.

"Uh… Nice to meet you too?" Evan's voice came out as a squeak and Mir startled when Evan squeezed his arms around him a little too tight.

"_Master._" Mir sighed almost exasperatedly, causing me to stifle a giggle around the hand that was covering my mouth.

But in all honesty I could understand why Evan was a little spooked at the moment. He was probably intimidated by the many pairs of eyes trained on him at the moment. It probably didn't help that he knew that they were all my superiors and therefore pretty strong people.

I sighed and rested my chin on my palm, elbow placed onto the table. Silently I addressed the situation and tried to think of what could come out of it. No doubt that Claudine and the others wanted to see how the new Hero was like. I could only imagine the amount of questions they'd have for him. It seemed like this was going to take a while.

"You are Eliza's best friend right?"

I snapped my attention back to what was being said upon hearing my name. "Hm?" I hummed curiously and watched as Evan nodded slightly in response to the question.

"We met when she and her class came to Victoria Island a couple of years ago and stayed in touch." He explained, seeming to relax as he kept on talking. "We happened to meet up while she was doing her mission and just… stuck together after that."

Claudine nodded and leaned back in her chair, seemingly satisfied- for the moment at least. Crystal then took the opportunity to ask a quesetion of her own."So, that's an interesting… pet you have there Evan. Where'd you get it?"

My forehead connected into the table gracelessly and I groaned softly. I didn't even need to look to see Evan and Mir tense. I looked anyway though, lifting my head slightly to peek at what was happening.

Crystal seemed taken aback, surprised by the reaction her question caused. Belle on the other hand seemed half a second away from apologizing on behalf of her second-in-command. Tony (and Checky maybe, it was hard to tell with the whole full body suit) looked over the situation curiously. Brighton and Claudine seemed to trade exasperated looks.

Before replying to Crystal's question I watched as Evan took in a breath and let it out slowly as if to steady himself. All the while he was rubbing at Mir's head, trying to relax the Onyx Dragon who was squirming in his arms. Finally Evan let out a strained smile, "Mir is _not _my pet." He emphasized the word _not _and continued, "We're partners. And I just… found him I guess. It's a bit hard to explain" Evan ended with a small shrug.

Mir snorted and turned his greyish-blue eyes towards Crystal. "If I was in my other form then I'm sure you wouldn't be calling me a _pet_."

I bit my lip to keep from smiling as the rest of the room stiffened. Including Belle who had spent hours in the Onyx Dragon's company due to the ship ride to Edelstein. But to be fair, she had never seen Mir in his grown form.

"Other form?" Claudine asked curiously. A quick look at her eyes however showed a faint amount of wariness.

Evan sighed and I locked eyes with him. His mouth quirked up slightly, obviously finding a little amount of amusement out of the other's fear and I let out a chuckle. They thought that Mir was a potential danger. A _danger _to _them_.

I mean, sure Mir was pretty strong on the battlefield against monsters. Another thing to add onto that was the fact that he was also a _dragon. _It was a word that I knew caused a certain amount of fear to erupt in most people. But in all actuality, the spells that Mir could do was only possible through the combined efforts of both him _and _Evan. Much like how Evan was pretty useless on his own, (no offense though) so was Mir.

Although… I guess in Mir's grown form he could _maybe _do some damage with his teeth or claws. He was about the size of Evan, maybe even a bit bigger, so that was also pretty intimidating.

My mind soon shifted away from my thoughts and back to reality as Evan's voice reached my ears. I was curious as to what he was going to say in reply to Claudine.

"Well… This is Mir's first form." Evan started to explain, expression blinking into one of confusion as he paused. Maybe because he didn't really know how to explain in the first place.

The silence however didn't last long because Belle interjected with a question. "How many forms does Mir have?"

Evan's mouth twisted into a frown. He tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows in thought. "I'm not sure… But right now we're at four forms."

"And what are the differences between these forms?" This time it was Checky.

Mir huffed slightly, a grin making it's way onto his face. "I'm more awesome as the forms go on."

"True, true." Evan chuckled slightly. Then he noticed the other's stares and elaborated on it. "Well, basically Mir get's bigger and stronger? We as partners get stronger together as Mir evolves. When he evolves we become able to do new spells too. Stronger and more useful ones than before." He nodded as he talked, eyes almost shining as he reached the end.

No one talked for a while after that. I lifted my head up from where it had previously been resting on the table. I couldn't help but think about how the questions had gone by a lot quicker than I thought they would. Then disappointment hit me when Tony opened his mouth. "And how does this evolution happen?"

Looks like we weren't done just yet.

"Uh, well." Evan fumbled for his words a little bit and I mentally sent him encouragement. Although I had to admit, he was actually explaining everything pretty well in my opinion. It was definitely a step up from when he tried to tell me all of this during our trip. "I- We don't really know? I just know that it happens while we're training." He finished with a shrug. His eyes flickered worriedly across the room to look at the others.

I nodded at Evan's explanation and he looked at me in relief. "Basically, Mir evolves when he evolves. Possibly because both he and Evan reached a certain amount of strength from their training. However, Mir can change back into any previous form that he and Evan wishes."

Evan beamed. "Yeah. That sounds about right." He looked at me and said a quiet thanks that I waved away easily.

"How interesting. I've never seen a creature like you Mir. Although if I had to guess I'd say you were an Onyx Dragon. Neither have I seen a duo function the way you two do in order to use spells." Claudine commented, and the attention was focused back onto her. She linked her fingers together on the table. "Well, except for a partnership I've only read about in books or heard about in passing of course."

My mind automatically flashed to Freud at hearing that. Evan's thoughts seemed to be aligned with mine and he perked up a bit after hearing that.

"Do you mean Freud and Afrien?" He asked, his and Mir's gaze focused curiously on Claudine.

Apparently the Resistance leader hadn't expected for them to know about their predecessor. I watched as a look of surprise appeared on her face before being replaced by curiosity. "How do you know about them?"

Alarm bells immediately began ringing in my head. I wasn't technically _supposed _to know that Evan was Freud's successor and therefore a Hero. It was something I knew due to my gaming knowledge. Although I probably could've figured it out on my own just by using the books about Heroes I read about. Now that I thought about it though... That's what I think I told Evan when he asked how I knew about him being a Hero.

"Eli told me." Evan stated simply, completely unaware of the thoughts running through my mind at the moment. "She figured out that I was his successor after seeing me and Mir because she read a bunch of books on the Heroes before."

Now the attention was centered on me and I squirmed a little bit at being the focus of all the stares. Despite knowing all of them for years now they were still a bit intimidating, especially when they were looking at me like _that_.

After taking a deep breath to calm myself down I elaborated a bit on what Evan had said. "I read a couple of books on the Maple Heroes when I was younger and would skim through them again in my free time. There wasn't all that much information on them except for their basic features and the gist of their skills but I was pretty fascinated with it at that time. I guess you could also say that I was a little obsessed. And so after finding out that Freud had an Onyx Dragon partner that he used magic with I got curious and ended up reading books that had some information on Onyx Dragons too."

I paused, looking around me to see how the others were reacting (they seemed faintly curious but not suspicious, which was good) before continuing. "When I saw Evan in Kerning Square I made the connection easily after seeing Mir. He matched all of the characteristics I read about Onyx Dragons and when I really paid attention I noticed that Evan looked pretty similar to Freud as well. Add in the _Spirit Pact _that the two had with each other and it was basically a clear confirmation on his Hero status." I finished my small speech with a shrug.

There was then a period of silence as Claudine and the others digested the information. From beside me I saw Evan give a thumbs up which caused me to crack a smile.

"I see." Claudine straightened in her chair and the focus was back on her. "And do you realize, Evan, just what it means to be a Hero?"

Evan's expression fell slightly at hearing that. After a beat passed Mir took the chance to answer in place of his master. "We're going to have to fight against the Black Mage?" He made it sound like a question. Albeit a slightly hesitant and worried one. It made my stomach twist in knots and hands clench unconciously.

Claudine nodded gravely. "The Black Mage has not been resurrected just yet. We, the Resistance, are trying to prevent that. But if the Black Mage _does _end up being resurrected then it's your duty along with the other Heroes to go against him to defeat him once and for all."

_The duty of a Maple Hero_. My lips turned down into a small frown at the thought. It left a bad taste in my mouth

The words washed over both me and Evan heavily. Almost in sync we slouched back in our chairs. My frown was still present on my face and Evan bore an expression of slight discomfort.

As if she didn't see us Claudine continued. "However that is far into the future. At the moment it'd be best for you to keep on training-"

Evan sat up straight as a realization hit him and he interrupted Claudine quickly. "Wait, aren't the other Heroes frozen in ice?" Evan questioned and I thought back to the letter Charlotte had sent me before I left on my mission.

_It seems like the ice is finally starting to melt_.

Aran was free. The first Hero to awaken seemingly, just like how it was in the game. My eyes glanced over at Evan and I wondered briefly if the awakening of the Heroes would be the same order as they were revealed in the game. That would mean that Mercedes was next with Phantom and Luminous following after.

And then there was Shade. The forgotten Hero that I _technically _shouldn't be able to remember.

I shook my head mentally at the thought. Just thinking about that led my mind to all the other classes from the game. Nova, Xenon, Beast Tamer, etc., were they all real? How would they factor into the storyline?

I forcefully broke myself away from those thoughts. Thinking about them wouldn't be productive in any way. It'd be best if I concentrated on what was happening now. I focused myself back onto the conversation.

"-sightings in Perion and Kerning City. None of our sources however have been able to confirm if it actually _is _Aran. However, due to the physical traits our scouts have managed to see along with the weapon she carries around the chances of it being her are high." Checky stated in response to Evan's question. "The last sighting was about a week ago in Ellinia. It's possible that she's moved from there to Orbis." He ended, sounding a bit disgruntled at that.

Evan's eyes widened in awe. "Orbis?" He muttered to himself. I couldn't help but let out a wistful sigh at the thought of that. After all, it'd be nice if we could both go to Orbis. I wanted to see the floating cloud city filled with fairies for myself. That'd definitely be fun.

"Yes Orbis. Sadly we don't have as many people stationed there as we do in Victoria Island so we can't say for sure." Tony sighed.

A nudge in my side caused me to direct my attention to Evan. He grinned at me. "Hey, after you're done in Edelstein do you want to go to Orbis?"

My eyes widened and I broke out into a matching grin. "_Yes_, that'd be awesome." I turned to Brighton for what he thought of the idea (he was still my instructor and therefor in charge with my along with my parents, not that they knew that though) and my face fell when I saw his clear disapproval.

"I don't think that's a good idea Eli." He started off and I made a face at him. "The monsters on Orbis are pretty strong, I don't know if you'd be able to handle it."

Belle interjected at this point. "And aren't you starting school soon? What's the point in going to Orbis then?"

"School? I'm done with the mandatory grades so I'm all good Belle." When I took in the other's surprised expression, sans Evan of course, I crossed my arms over my chest. With a confused expression I asked, "Why do you all look so surprised?"

Crystal recovered from her surprise quickly. "Well it's just that you've done so well in all your classes we all assumed you'd be continuing with your studies."

"You're very smart Eliza." Claudine added. "You could probably get a good job if you finish school and get a degree in something."

"Don't feel pressured to cancel your studies just because you're part of the Resistance. There is no need for you to completely dedicate your life to training and getting stronger." Brighton added his own two cents in. Very unnecessarily if I may add.

They made it sound like focusing on my training instead of going to school was a bad idea. It made no sense really. What good would a nice paying job do when the Black Mage ends up being revived? Not that they knew it was a for sure thing yet but…

I made the decision on this matter a _long _time ago. I wasn't going to change my mind now no matter what they were going to say.

"Eli?"

I turned my head to the side to see Evan watching me with a faint amount of worry in his eyes. I gave him a reassuring smile and proceeded to roll my eyes at everyone else.

"I'm _not _continuing school." I stated clearly and quickly held up a hand to stop any protests from erupting. "I've already talked to my family along with my friends about this. They know that I'm not going back to school and that I'm going to become an Adventurer. They're fine with this, mostly." I added the last part as an afterthought.

Mir snorted. "Mostly?"

I shrugged. "My parents are worried of course but overall they want me to be happy. Even though it's dangerous they said they'll still support me."

"Like my parents kind of." Evan nodded thoughtfully and I smiled.

Now that I thought about it our families really were kind of in the same situation. Although mine weren't as informed as Evan's family was of my situation.

I mentally shrugged that. I'd get around to telling them the whole story one day. It wasn't necessary information they needed to know at the moment. No need to add onto their worry after all.

* * *

The rest of the meeting was mainly filled of a few more arguments on my decision and discussions as to what was going to happen next.

Brighton still seemed to be against both mine and Evan's wish to go to Orbis. He claimed we weren't strong enough which frustrated me completely. The others however seemed to be split half and half with both sides seemingly unsure. However it was the general consensus that me and Evan were going to train together. Only the _wher__e _part was undecided.

All of us had managed to make an agreement other than that though. It involved me and Evan staying in Edelstein for a couple of days, a week at most. It gave me time to spend time with my family and friends along with break the news to them.

Although I was a bit disappointed at the thought of not going to Orbis, Evan on the other hand though was absolutely excited. The idea of spending time in Edelstein made him ecstatic. He even went as far as to say, _the longer we stay the better_. Edelstein was a completely different town than what he was used to and apparently he wanted to see _everything_.

And long story short, that want of his was how the two of us ended up lying near exhausted on the green grass in my house's yard.

"We didn't even manage to tour _half _the town you know Evan." I said in between pants.

Evan groaned somewhere over to my left and Mir followed his master's example.

I was honestly surprised at how tired I had gotten from just walking around (with the occasional run when we got a little too excited). My stamina was supposed to be a lot better than Evan's due to my training.

My mind flickered back and forth from possible causes and an understanding reached me. Maybe it was because I wasn't with my auras? They used up my life energy to exist after all and were currently with Brighton to change them back to their normal forms. Usually Star drained a little life energy out of our surroundings when she was with me to make up for the life energy that they used but since she wasn't here…

I groaned, raising a hand to cover my face from the hot sun.

"_Star_…" I mumbled underneath my palm, not really expecting a reply from said person only a second later.

"Yes master?"

I sat up instantly and my eyes widened as I saw Star along with Tempest and Light seated in front of me. In their normal forms.

"You're back to normal!" I exclaimed "So Brighton finished already?"

Light let out a grin as he nodded. Then he proceeded to stretch his arms above his head. "It feels good to be back to normal. Being a bird felt weird."

"We were so small. It was a bit uncomfortable." Tempest's face scrunched up slightly while saying that.

"Small, yes." Star nodded in agreement. "But very cute."

From the corner of my eye I noticed Evan walking over to me and I patted the space beside me in invitation. He took the seat and glanced between me and my auras curiously.

"Those are…" He gestured towards Star and the others. "Your birds?"

I nodded and Mir seemed to slump in Evan's arms. "They're bigger than me now."

That caused a course of laughter to go through everyone which only added to Mir's displeasure.

"But in your normal form you'll be bigger than them I think?" Evan blinked down at Mir, eyes slightly narrowed as he thought about it for a second.

Mir brightened up at hearing that. "Yes, I am. Let me change into my normal form!" He started squirming in Evan's arms and I reached over to stop him with another laugh bubbling up my throat.

"Oh goddess _no _Mir. You'll give most of the people in the town a heart attack if they see you like that." I shook my head at him, smiling all the while. Although in the back of my mind I was thanking the goddess that the Black Wings members had stopped loitering in Edelstein. When that certain change had first occured a couple of months ago I had been on edge thinking they'd try something. Now though I only felt relieved at not having to worry about them seeing Evan or Mir.

And now that I thought about it. A couple of months ago? Could that be linked with Aran's awakening?

"What? They're just wimps then." Mir argued, breaking me out of my thoughts. The Onyx Dragon huffed against Evan's tight hold.

Light snorted at him then, amusement clear in his eyes. "It's just a normal reaction Mir. I bet the people here haven't seen a single dragon before."

"That's true." Tempest agreed. He then continued, "So in order to not scare any unfortunate passersby along with Eli's family who are currently on their way here I think it's best for you to stay in that form at the moment." Tempest concluded, a fist hitting the palm of his hand.

I nodded along with his words, not really understanding what he said until a couple seconds later.

"Wait, my family is on their way here?"

* * *

I like to think of Eliza's family, my family, as a rather normal one. Although I had to admit they were a bit more welcoming than others I suppose.

"So you're Evan, the boy that Eliza's been sending letters to?" My mother asked from her spot across from Evan.

Currently my parents along with me and Evan were seated at the kitchen table. I was across from my dad with Evan sitting next to me who was across from my mom.

My family were surprised to see me and Evan laying on the grass (my auras had vanished to everyone else's eyes except my own) and even more surprised at seeing Mir. Though they weren't afraid of Mir- not in the least bit- my mom and the twins even found the Onyx Dragon (who they believed was just a big lizard) to be very cute.

The four of them had just gotten back from a trip to the mall apparently. They also hadn't been expecting me back until a couple more days which explained their surprise. Brighton and the other's hadn't informed them of my early return then.

Going back to Mir, he was currently entertaining the twins in the living room. Of course he hadn't said a word since they arrived or done something bizarre (at least to them) like fly or breathe fire but his appearance itself seemed to interest them. My auras had joined them and were currently watching the scene unfold. Giving me comments every now and then by projecting their thoughts to me.

"Yes I'm Evan. It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Hertsh." Evan smiled brightly.

My parents nodded at that, matching smiles on their faces. It seemed like they were okay with Evan so far which wasn't exactly a surprise. Evan was great after all, I chose my friends wisely.

"So how did you two end up meeting up? Was it pre-planned or just coincidence?" My dad asked curiously and I spoke up quickly before Evan could.

"Just coincidence dad. I was surprised to see him while I was on my trip and almost didn't recognize him at first. He's an Adventurer you know?" I smiled and glanced beside me at Evan. He looked a little confused but it wasn't too noticeable.

I sent him a look that said _follow along_ and the side of his mouth quirked up in understanding. He knew I was in a secret group and how that secret needed to stay secret. For now at least.

"Oh, you are? A Magician I bet by the looks of your clothes. Eliza must have been pretty jealous. You should know that she wants to be able to use magic too right?" My mom turned to look at Evan as she spoke. Both her and dad seemed to be looking even closer at his appearance. It was kind of funny to watch.

Evan nodded, not bothered by it at all. "Yeah I know and honestly she was a little jealous at first. She can't wait to head back to Victoria Island and become an Adventurer herself." At the end he glanced at me and I smiled back at him reassuringly.

"And speaking of becoming an Adventurer…" I beamed at my parents and their expressions immediately fell, much to my displeasure. Despite that I continued on anyways. "I was thinking of going back to Victoria Island in a couple of days. That'll give me enough time to hang out with you two and the twins along with Luke and Macey. And don't worry about money, I've saved up quite a bit over the years too and I have some left over mesos from what you gave me for my trip."

There was a period of silence as my parents registered what I had just told them and I waited anxiously to see how they'd react. It was one thing for them to be okay with it when it was just a thing of the future, now that the reality of the situation was in front of them… Their opinions on it just might differ. Which wouldn't be a good thing.

It wasn't like they would be able to stop me though if they had ended up changing their minds. However I'd rather them support me than to go against their wishes.

"I had a feeling you would bring that up when you got back." My dad started out with a sigh. "It's just as Macey and Luke thought too."

I perked up at hearing about that. It figured that my two friends would be able predict what I was going to do. They knew me pretty well after all.

"Hey, where's Macey and Luke anyways? How've they been while I was gone?" I questioned excitedly and Evan seemed to lean forward in interest as well.

My mom frowned at that, her and dad exchanging a glance. That caused me to tense up. "What? What happened?"

Dad's expression became apologetic. "You see, they have already left to go become Adventurers." The statement caused my eyes to widen immediately. In a second I stood up in my chair, unintentionally causing it to fall backwards behind me.

"What? They left already? When?" My mind whirled. From the conversations me, Luke, and Macey had in the past we all agreed that we weren't necessarily going to become Adventurers together. The plan was for us to instead go our separate ways and then meet up in the future when we were stronger.

Luke was the one who had suggested that idea. He stated that in a way it made things easier. We could all focus and do our own thing without having to worry about anyone else.

Macey then seconded it when Luke first brought it up. She believed that the independence would help us grow individually and let us experience new things.

Finally I had agreed because it made things a lot easier for me. That way I wouldn't really have to explain about how I already had skills and combat experience. At least, not until a long while later anyways.

I had expected the separation. Luke and Macey heading off to Victoria Island themselves was no surprise for that exact reason. It was the fact that they left while I was gone that confused me.

Apparently that confusion was obvious because mom continued where dad left off. "A team of Adventurers came by only a couple of days after you left. They were gathering possible recruits into their respective classes. It was for a training camp of some sort to better integrate beginners into the field of their choice."

"Luke and Macey didn't want to leave at first." My dad added comfortingly. "They didn't want to leave without letting you know. But it was a really good opportunity and their parents thought it'd be a shame for them to miss out on it."

Slowly I took in my parents' words. In the back of my head I could hear Evan moving my chair back up from where it had fell and I flopped down into it once it was in place. I spared him a thankful glance before talking again.

"I can't believe they left." I said without any real hurt in my voice. It was more of an automatic statement for the situation. Deep down I understood why they did it. If I was in their shoes I would've done it too. But still…

"I didn't even get to introduce them to Evan." I muttered glumly as I slouched in my chair. That caused the rest of the occupants in the room to crack a smile.

Evan reached over to pat me on the shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay. I'm sure we'll see them on our travels. Then you can introduce me and Mir to them and we'll all become good friends." He nodded reassuringly with a bright smile on his face.

"I suppose so." I sighed dramatically, a smile also tugging at my lips. Then my eyes fell back on my parents. "So about me becoming an Adventurer then…"

* * *

My parents had agreed that I should stay in town for a week before leaving for Victoria Island. During that free time I spent the days lounging around the house with Evan and the twins. We would often end up playing card or board games such as Old Mushroom, Go-Slime, Pig Land, and Checkers.

At nighttime my parents would take me and my siblings plus Evan to delicious restaurants (Mir sadly had to stay at home for reasons that are pretty obvious) and then to fun places such as the arcade or the karaoke parlor.

Evan at first had been against joining in the outings, citing that he felt like he was intruding. The first time (and last time if I may add) he said that I told him to be quiet and shoved him into my parents van. He seemed to get the message that I wasn't going to take no for an answer after that and no other protests were made. My parents then later comforted him about it saying that they didn't mind taking him along. In fact, they were more than happy to show him the many different great places around Edelstein after I told them it was Evan's first time here.

Time passed by quickly and soon enough it was my last day there. Both mine and Evan's backpacks were stocked full of necessities (money, extra clothes, food, water, potions, along with a staff in my case) and we were ready to go at any given moment.

Sadly that moment wasn't going to be until a couple of hours because that's when the first ship back to Victoria Island was.

Although both me and Evan had very much wanted to head over to Orbis, Brighton and the others convinced us to wait a little bit longer. They wanted us to train a bit more on Victoria Island before coming back to address our skills. Then if they deemed us strong enough we could go to Orbis.

It was for our own safety. Claudine stated simply when she delivered the news. And I realized that the statement was meant more for Evan than me.

The realization hit me hard. Of course they wouldn't want Evan doing anything too dangerous yet. They didn't want him to die. And although I'm sure they thought that of me too, Evan was more of a priority due to being a Hero.

The whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth. The monsters on Victoria Island were getting a bit weak for me and Evan which was shown on our trip from Kerning City to Henesys which ended with us going to Ellinia. We weren't going to get any stronger by fighting weak mobs. In that sense if we wanted to actually increase our strength and fight monsters more on or higher than our level we'd probably have to go to Sleepywood. The dark creepy place in the forest with underground caves.

Yeah… _No_.

I knew better to complain though and we decided to follow through with the plan. _After all_, Evan whispered to me quietly enough so that the Brighton and the others couldn't hear. _They never stated specifically how long we had to wait before coming back_.

That little tidbit of information had brightened my spirits considerably.

Now at the moment me and Evan were making a final walk around the streets of Edelstein. Or well, more like a final jog if I wanted to be a bit more truthful. There were a couple of places I wanted to show Evan really quick before we left that I hadn't been able to show him previously.

We technically still had a lot of time left but for some reason I couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. It caused me to pick up my pace even more so and our jog turned into a run.

"Really Eli?" I heard Evan call from behind me. I glanced at him and smiled slightly at seeing him keep up without getting tired, for the moment at least. "We've still got time till we can buy tickets for the ship. What's the rush?"

Facing forward I kept going. "I don't know actually… I just feel like I have to hurry for some reason I guess?" It was like my mind was trying to tell me something. My insticts maybe. And one of the few things that had been drilled into me by Brighton during training was to always trust your instincts.

I pretended not to notice Evan snort loudly and Mir grumble in his arms. Instead I continued weaving my way around the town. A frown made it's way to my face as I realized I wasn't going to get there fast enough.

Not that I actually had a time I needed get there but…

Disregarding that last thought I made a sharp turn down an alleyway. It was a shortcut that I faintly remembered about.

Due to my experience of being a Resistance member I had basic knowledge of most of the alleyways. It was enough to know that my destination- a _really_ good ice cream parlor- was only a couple of turns away. (Why was I in such a hurry to get there again?)

"Woah you're going a bit too fast don't you think Eli?"

And now I could hear a faint pant in his voice. A peek behind me showed he was lagging behind slightly. I frowned and snapped my fingers once. A faint yellow circle appeared beneath both mine and Evan's feet.

In the back of my head I heard Light snicker. _In a rush master? _

Then Tempest's slightly worried voice trickled into my mind too. _Wait, are we late for the ship? You said you were just going to walk around a bit so we decided to stay at your house._

_We're coming!_ Star exclaimed through our link and I quickly sent over my disagreements to that statement.

_Sorry you guys! No we're not late, me and Evan just need to get somewhere quick. I'll talk to you guys about it later. _And with that being said I shut off our link and focused back onto the task at hand. Getting to that ice cream parlor.

Evan was now right next to me instead of behind and he was sporting a large grin. "Wow, this makes it a lot easier. Your auras are pretty handy."

"Thanks." I grinned back and nodded my head towards the end of the alleyway that was approaching quickly. "The place is just right out there-"

My sentence was cut off as soon as I stepped out onto the street and out of the alley. My sense of balance was lost and I found myself falling backwards onto my butt.

I was so surprised that I blanked out for a couple of seconds. After I finally came back down to reality I noticed that there was a gloved hand being held in front of me.

In the back of my mind I heard Evan asking me if I was okay. That however didn't really register as I took in the appearance of the person who had apparently just ran into me. Long brown cloak with sleeves that covered slightly past the person's wrist. The hood was also pulled up over their head, masking most of their face.

Usually this type of image would have me immediately backing away but instead I felt... Almost like I was _safe_.

"I'm sorry about that. I was in a rush and didn't see you." The voice was female but not overly high. I clamped my hand in hers and she pulled me up with ease.

"It's… Okay. I'm okay." I directed the last part towards Evan who seemed to be hovering nervously beside me. He smiled thankfully at me. However I wasn't really paying attention to him. Instead I watched as the unknown lady (or was she?) recoil visibly as her eyes landed on him. It was as if she hadn't noticed him before.

Evan seemed both surprised and a little worried at the strong reaction he had caused. His mouth then opened to apologize (for reasons I'm not sure of) but then he stopped.

His head tilted to the side slightly as something akin to familiarity to confusion flickered on and off his face. The woman stepped forward in Evan's direction and her mouth opened to say something but she seemed to fumble with the words for a couple of seconds.

In that short amount of time I watched almost unbelievingly as a lock of white hair managed to slip out from under the hood.

"Is that you Freud?"

* * *

**Hahaha it's done I almost can't believe it.**

**After so many months it's finally _done_. **

**Okay so now that I'm done with my faint disbelief at (finally) finishing this time for my apologies.**

**I'm incredibly sorry at how long this has taken. It's been months and I feel really bad about it. **

**For the most part it's taken so long because of the fact that I could never figure out how to start off the chapter. I've scrapped and redone this chapter too many times to count I think. Also because of things like school. And my bad time management skills.  
**

**But it's done now. Yay.**

**And if you noticed what I was referring to when I was talking about the games that Eli, Evan, and the twins played together then high-five to you. Old Mushroom is supposed to be Old Maid, Go-Slime is Go-fish, Pig Land to Candy Land, and I really wanted to but sadly I couldn't find a way to make a monster fit into the name for checkers. **

**Btw is it normal to cringe slightly at editing your own writing? Because I do that, I don't know why lol. It makes editing kind of a pain.**

**Next Time on Past the Screen: Aran (Things are starting to get interesting)  
**

**[Stats]**

**Started Writing: 2/6/15 (that was so long ago wow)**

**Finished Writing: 6/12/15 (No goal. Just hopefully soon because it's summer after all.)**


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